Student Loan Blog : YouTube

Learn This, Professor: Shorter is Better

Student Loan Girl — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:14:00 GMT

Traditional college professors attempting to venture into online learning may be in store for a rather unpleasant surprise: What works in the classroom doesn’t necessarily work on the internet, according to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education (“Technology Shrinks the Lecture,” June 20, 2008).

And a few educators are learning this lesson the hard way. Dalton Kehoe, a professor at York University, in Toronto, had won teaching awards and praise for his lectures for decades, but when asked to do his first online class, he failed miserably. Students said his 50-minute video talks were too long and his course evaluations suffered because of it.

“It was the most extremely boring thing my students had ever seen,” Kehoe said. “I had to sit to down and look at these lectures and realize that when you're looking at someone online as a talking head and shoulders in video, you just want to kill yourself after about 20 minutes,” he commented.

Kehoe and others who are creating effective online learning programs have quickly come to the realization that shorter really is better. To make his internet-delivered lectures more engaging for students, Kehoe broke them up into focused, 20-minute segments that only covered single topics.

Professors Adapt Online ‘Mini-lecture’ Model to Classroom

Kehoe and other professors like him are beginning to apply the teaching strategies that work for online programs in the traditional classroom and they are experiencing great results. Instead of teaching in lengthy 50-minute segments, Kehoe breaks up his material into 15-minute sections, interspersed with three-minute breaks.

During the short “laugh breaks,” Kehoe shows the funniest comedy video selected from several video submissions chosen by his students in class. He claims that those short breaks pay off.

“When they move back to listening to me, they’re concentrating in a way they weren’t before,” Kehoe said.

His students seem to like the breaks as well.

“It made classes feel shorter,” said Adelaida Ortega, a former student. “By having the lecture divided up into smaller sections, the course content seemed less overwhelming. I didn’t feel like the material was zooming by me.”

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Wilkes University Puts Freshman Recruits Front and Center and Billboard-Size

Student Loan Girl — Sun, 04 May 2008 22:56:00 GMT

Wilkes University, a small, private school in northeastern Pennsylvania, is using a quirky new in-your-face $120,000 ad campaign to get the attention of today’s media- and marketing-savvy students.

The university is plastering personalized messages on billboards, pizza boxes, gas pumps, and even on MTV, VH1, and Comedy Central to students it wants to make a part of its freshman class, reports Michael Rubinkam in a story by The Associated Press (“Pennsylvania College Woos Students by Putting Them in Ads,” April 30, 2008).

The “trendsetting and forward-thinking” marketing campaign appeals to the “look-at-me generation,” teens comfortable sharing all-things-personal on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, says Nancy Costopulos, chief marketing officer of the American Marketing Association.

The Message: Personalized and Not for the Shy

Wilkes features applicants in its ads who have a “mix of talents and determination” and who live in markets where the university wants to promote itself, says Jack Chielli, the school’s director of marketing. Students must also consent to having their names used.

The ads, writes Rubinkam, are meant “to convey the message that the school gets to know its students personally and pays close attention to their needs.”

To get messages with the right personal touch, 160over90, the Philadelphia marketing firm contracted by Wilkes, interviews participating students and their friends and families, uncovering likes, dislikes, hobbies, nicknames.

The agency uses the information it gleans from these in-depth interviews to design the highly personalized ads that have turned some college-bound seniors into quasi-celebrities in their high schools and communities:

“Lake Lehman senior Greg Heindel: You give your time at the soup kitchen, the firehouse, and your church summer camp. Wilkes University would like to give you something — a top-quality education.”
“Hey Kristen Pecka. Only your closest friends at Central Catholic call you Pecka-lecka-lecka. Choose Wilkes University and add 2,362 more people to that list.”
“Scranton High senior Nicole Pollock: Our goal at Wilkes University is to be as much a mentor as your mother has been. (Now, if we could only make her ravioli.)”

Each ad includes an invitation to “call a Colonel” (the school’s mascot) and provides a phone number that plays a recorded message from a current Wilkes student.

It’s the Thought That Counts

Even if targeted recruits end up choosing another school, says Chielli, he considers the ads successful as long as they continue to grab attention and get other students to think about Wilkes.

But besides drawing more students to apply, the school wants to help make it possible for them to actually attend: Nearly all students receive some form of financial aid apart from student loans to help cover the $25,000 price tag. Wilkes awards $22 million in financial aid each year.

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7 Offbeat, Memorable and Affordable Valentine Gift Ideas

Student Loan Girl — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 12:14:00 GMT

Let’s face it: A box of chocolates, a fistful of flowers, and a dinner out aren’t going to get you into the Valentine’s Day Hall of Fame & Everlasting Memories.

If you and your love cookie are tired of the whole Russell-Stover-and-roses routine and your Valentine’s Days have all started to blur together, chuck the clichés this year with one of these seven off-the-grid gifts, and make it a Valentine’s Day you’ll both always be able to remember.

1) The Cute, Sexy and Hotness Chronic Ailment Package

Billing itself as the “ONLY research facility that effectively diagnoses the chronic ailments of Cute, Sexy, and Hotness^©,” the C&S Research Institute — that’s Cute & Sexy, in case you missed it — features over 30 different gift packs designed to “treat” the cute, sexy, or hot afflicted babe in your life.

Each gift pack includes:

A personalized letter diagnosing the recipient with multiple ailments that CSRI specializes in treating
“Medication” like M&Ms and Hershey’s Kisses
Optional add-ons such as chocolate roses, an aromatherapy kit, or a variety of gift cards, from Victoria’s Secret to Lowe’s to Starbucks

The best-selling standard gift pack will only run you $8.99, plus shipping and handling.

You can check out a video rundown of the CSRI gift packs on YouTube.

2) Message in a Bottle

Named the “Most Romantic Gift” on Oprah, this one should win over even the most cynical pink-picketing anti-romanticists.

Choose the classic “Chestnut” bottle for $29.95, or go all-out with the “Key to my Heart” bottle for $86.95 (special Valentine’s Day pricing, regular price $129.95).

You can select a prewritten message, or pour your heart out and write the scrolled note yourself.

For inspiration, check out these true stories of bottle senders and receivers.

Valentine’s Day shipping is available, and you can have your Message in a Bottle delivered right to your valentine’s door.

3) Godiva Chocolate Decadence Suite

Heroes star Ali Larter calls Godiva chocolate pearls the “perfect bit of sin.”

And now sin has gone loft-sized with Godiva’s Chocolate Decadence Suite, currently on display in Manhattan’s East Village.

The suite, made almost entirely of chocolate, is the centerpiece of this year’s annual Godiva Valentine’s Day promotion.

Specially marked Godiva Valentine’s Day gift boxes valued at $23 or more offer a chance to win a pampered weekend getaway for two in this Godiva room, which will be re-created in a suite in Manhattan’s Bryant Park Hotel.

Every wall in the room is made of chocolate, and the living room includes a chocolate-decorated day bed, chocolate fireplace, chocolate “Pucci” armchairs, and chocolate bookcases holding several chocolate books that open up to caches of chocolates instead of fiction.

A chocolate-and-amber-crystal chandelier illuminates the dining room with its dark-chocolate candelabras and chocolate mosaic table and chairs. Even the high art on the walls is chocolate: Multicolored chocolate pieces make up an edible version of Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss,” and a brown-and-white abstract above the dining table offers a chocolate interpretation of Jackson Pollock.

Besides a stay in the Godiva suite, the Grand Prize Chocolate Fantasy Weekend includes airfare to New York, two days of spa treatment, a private chocolate tasting with a Godiva chef, and a private, chef-catered dinner for two.

If you win, though, you’ll have to wait until May to enjoy your prize.

4) Personalized Valentine’s Day Magazine Cover

If you have a high cheese threshold and you’re big on seeing you and your sweetie in full-color print, YourCover can help you plaster your love all over a ready-to-frame glossy magazine cover.

Here’s your chance to show off your creativity and how great you are at expressing yourself: Customize your cover, front and back, with meaningful photos, quotes, and your own affectionate, funny, or Cosmo-worthy headlines.

The $49.95 price tag includes printing, a deluxe frame, and shipping and handling.

5) Heart-Shaped USB Flash Drive Necklace

Less than $15 gets you this heart-shaped 1GB USB flash drive necklace, where your valentine can hold your digital photos, music, and video memories close to his or her heart.

Perfect for that special, low-maintenance geeky someone in your life.

6) Sonic Boom Love Clock

You’re ready for love. Whether it’s a dinner date, a night out on the town, or just coffee and breakfast, you’re there.

And waiting … on your frequent companion who can’t seem to be on time, ever.

For $40 (plus shipping and handling), treat your perpetually unpunctual pookie to this take-no-prisoners timepiece from ThinkGeek.

Deceptively unassuming in its heart-shaped cotton-candy–pink casing, the Sonic Boom alarm clock packs an industrial-strength wallop. At 113 decibels, the alarm is actually louder than a jackhammer (100 decibels).

If that’s not enough to get your sweetheart out of bed and out the door to meet you, slip the shaker attachment under the mattress. Unless your significant other makes a habit of sleeping through earthquakes, the bed-shaker should be able to do what the prospect of a date with you hasn’t — get your BF or GF moving.

7) Man/Woman Remote Relationship Control

Have a hard time speaking your mind? These talking remotes could do wonders for the state of communication in your relationship.

Just push a button, and you can launch any one of a number of instant retorts, iron-handed commands, or inappropriate sound effects.

“What about my needs?”
“What were you thinking?”
“Zip it!”
“Feed me!”
“I’m outta here!”

For $17.95, you’ll get hours of entertainment and push-button verbal combat.

Make sure to specify whether you want the “Control Your Woman” or “Control Your Man” unit, or get both for $29.95, plus shipping and handling.

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TV Battles Internet for Leading Entertainment Title Role

Student Loan Girl — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 18:45:00 GMT

Vint Cerf, one of the founders of the Internet, “has predicted the end of traditional television,” writes Nicole Martin for the British Telegraph (“TV is Dying, Says Google Expert,” Aug. 28, 2007). According to Cerf, TV is approaching its “iPod moment,” meaning we’re about to see a drastic long-term change in how we watch TV, the same way we’ve witnessed the iPod revolutionize the way people listen to music.

In the near future, Cerf suggests, we’ll no longer view our programs the way we have for years, making sure to tune in to our favorite shows when they hit the air, but instead downloading and watching them on our own time.

VCRs and TiVo have already made TV scheduling a quaint idea, allowing us to record and watch back at our leisure instead of when network lineups want us to. And now the Internet is making the TV itself irrelevant, as more and more people shift to watching their shows for free online or downloading them to their video iPods

Television Becomes Entertainment on Demand

Choose what you want, when you want to watch it, and forget about commercials.

Actually, you can forget the TiVo too, since chances are the commercial-free shows you want to see are available to you online.

Apple’s iTunes store, which already dominates digital music downloads, has also become the go-to source for TV downloads. Whether you’re a reality show addict, a soap junkie, or you live for primetime, iTunes has what you’re looking for.

From the designer divas of Project Runway to the hapless mismanagement of The Office, iTunes lets you catch the episodes you missed or the favorite eps you want to watch again and again. More of a sports fan? Go to the ESPN section of the iTunes store and choose from classic football and basketball games that made NCAA history before you were even born.

For a flat $1.99 an episode or $34.99–$44.99 for an entire season, you can download years’ worth of TV to watch on your computer. (Although NBC, in a dispute with Apple over wanting to charge more than $1.99 an episode for its popular shows—and less, for special promotions—won’t be offering any new episodes of NBC programming on iTunes, effective immediately.)

When you’re commuting or traveling and want your own lineup of in-flight entertainment, or if your dorm room or apartment scene is just getting old, just throw whatever you’re watching onto your laptop or video iPod, and take your TV with you.

If you don’t feel like paying for downloadable television, the networks are making plenty of hits available to you for free on their own sites. You can spend hours watching Grey’s Anatomy, Lost or Ugly Betty at ABC.com; any one of the CSI series on CBS.com; Late Night with Conan O’Brien on NBC.com; and Hell’s Kitchen at Fox.com.

The cable channel sites may not offer as many free full-length shows, but they’ll usually at least have teasers and trailers, along with cool Web-only extras.

If you missed last week’s The Closer or Saving Grace on TNT, you can download full episodes, check out behind-the-scenes takes, and get sneak peeks of what’s hitting next week. If you can’t get enough Law & Order, catch the TNT L&O-inspired “Web Originals,” like “True Tales from the Interrogation Room” and “Ripped from the Headlines.”

At MTV.com, you can get all the latest entertainment news, watch the highlights of the latest crash and burn on an upcoming Scarred, and travel through 30 years of pop music-on-TV history with both the latest and the vintage in music videos.

USA doesn’t have any full episodes online yet, but their site is the only place you can get online-only “webisodes” of fan favorites Psych and Monk. You can also get up-close with cast interviews and read character diaries and computer files to try to solve ongoing show mysteries along with the show’s characters.

Survey Says: TV Fighting Losing Battle

While it might be surprising that major networks are offering their just-aired shows for free viewing online instead of hoarding them for syndication or summer rerun season, TV execs have realized that online programming is a necessary survival tactic.

As more and more people go online each day, TV-based entertainment finds itself having to compete for audience share in a progressively crowded digital marketplace. Instead of spending hours in front of the TV, consumers are now spending hours in front of their computers, as they devote their free time to online gaming like World of Warcraft, online socializing on MySpace and Facebook, and online viewing on YouTube.

A recent consumer survey by IBM found that the Internet “is becoming consumers’ primary entertainment source. The TV is increasingly taking a back seat to the cell phone and the personal computer among consumers age 18 to 34,” (“IBM Consumer Survey Shows Decline of TV as Primary Media Device,” Aug. 22, 2007).

As the Internet transforms entertainment, shopping, communication and work into an on-demand and instant-gratification business, fewer people are willing to schedule their lives around airtimes when it’s so much easier, convenient and satisfying to watch what they want whenever they feel like it, sitting at home or on the go.

With nearly a quarter of the marketplace already watching at least half of their television content on replay, as IBM found, the notion of “live” TV is waning. And with viewers “increasingly turning to online destinations … , games, or mobile entertainment vs. traditional television,” TV must find a solid cyber footing or risk being replaced by the Internet.

It’s hard to say how those monolithic TV networks will continue to respond to the online threat to their entertainment empires, but it’s very likely that the TV we’ll be referring to in ten years will be altogether different from the one we started out watching.

However television evolves, the direction it’s going to take is going to need to be towards us. The days of viewers flocking to the sofa on cue are over. Whether from your computer desk at home, your laptop at the coffee shop, or your iPod in the middle of a desert, you’re in control and you, not the networks, are going to be calling the shots.

For all the information you need about student loans, go to www.nextstudent.com.

Student Loan Girl

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Say Goodbye to Town Hall and Hello to the World of E-Mediacy

Student Loan Girl — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 18:37:00 GMT

First, there was Cindy Sheehan, the suburban mother turned political activist after her son died in Iraq.

Then there was the CNN and YouTube joint foray into the presidential debates, with CNN televising all eight Democratic candidates debating questions submitted by the public through YouTube videos.

And now get ready for the first-ever webcast of a presidential town hall discussion, brought to you by MTV and MySpace.

Although the CNN debates were available online through YouTube immediately after the television broadcast, on September 27, former Senator John Edwards will be the first in a string of presidential candidates to simultaneously take to the stage and to the Net for one hour of dialogue with both an in-house audience and long-distance Web junkies.

The public can submit questions for discussion throughout the events via text message, instant message and e-mail, and the Q&A sessions will be webcast live and in real-time on MySpaceTV.com and MTV.com.

Although all the questions for the presidential candidates will have to be submitted electronically and can thus come from remote participants, the discussions themselves—most of them taking place on college campuses—will have an audience of about 100 to 200 students physically present, as well as a moderator, political pundits and MTV News correspondents. Aside from the intervention of the moderator, who will choose discussion questions from among the submissions, the dialogue will be relatively uncensored.

Between September and December, the two social media giants will host 11 webcast discussions accompanied by real-time polling for candidates from both parties: Democrats Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Sen. Chris Dodd, Sen. Barack Obama and Gov. Bill Richardson; and Republicans Sen. Sam Brownback, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Rep. Duncan Hunger, Sen. John McCain, Rep. Ron Paul, and former Gov. Mitt Romney.

YouTube Generation Spins Its Own Political Webs

Not since President Clinton rocked the world of presidential campaigning by becoming the first candidate to engage in face-to-face discussions with MTV viewers has a presidential race so shattered the norms of the conventional campaign trail.

Like their CNN and YouTube contemporaries, MTV and MySpace—two of the most prominent media forums catering to today’s under-30 crowd—are relying on their Internet-juiced audiences to embrace the new era of politics-on-the-Web.

“Our expectation was that they were really going to use the Web and let the wisdom of the crowd help drive politics in a more democratic way,” said David Colarusso, a Massachusetts physics teacher, about the CNN/YouTube debates in an article by Mary Anne Ostrom in The Mercury News, (“YouTube Presidential Debate Breaks the Rules,” July 19, 2007).

The executives at MTV and MySpace view their innovation as a means of engaging their young adult audiences in a political dialogue that they typically eschew—a sort of Rock the Vote for the YouTube era.

“We very much want to take the Iowa or New Hampshire living room global,” says Jeff Bernam, general manager of MySpaceTV, in an Associated Press article by Jake Coyle (“MySpace, MTV to Offer Candidate Chats,” Aug. 22, 2007).

The webcast sessions aren’t meant to be traditional face-to-face town hall debates simply transplanted into cyberspace, but rather face-to-webcam conversations geared specifically toward their audience’s digital sensibilities.

“This is not a debate,” says MTV spokesman Ian Rowe in Coyle’s article. “Each one of these dialogues is an opportunity for young people both on a college campus as well as millions watching via a live stream on MySpace and MTV.com to have a one-on-one, direct, unfiltered conversation with each candidate.”

A Blessing and a Burden for Political Campaigning

The CNN/YouTube debate attracted 2.6 million viewers, an audience only slightly smaller than that for MSNBC’s traditional debate in June. With roughly 43 million regular MySpace users and millions more young people online in general, this latest test of online political engagement has just as much potential for viewership success.

But some critics argue that the whole concept of Internet-driven political activism is inherently elitist.

With less than half of the U.S. adult (18 and older) population having high-speed Internet access, according to a recent study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, potential participants with the capability to partake in the MySpace and MTV Web-only discussions would be limited to those who understand the technology and can afford high-speed service.

According to the Pew study, only 30 percent of those who earn less than $30,000 a year have high-speed Internet access, compared to more than three-fourths of those who make at least $75,000.

“The danger with [the online campaign platform] is that … we have a digital divide in broadband,” says Barbara O’Connor, director of California State University-Sacramento’s Institute for the Study of Politics and Media, in Ostrom’s article.

On the other hand, it’s hard to deny the reach of a technological revolution that has, in some ways, created a more democratic presidential election season.

Even at traditional face-to-face town hall–style debates, only the handful of attendees who are lucky enough to gain admission into one of the few debate locations nationwide stand the slim chance of having their questions answered.

But the Web has opened up the realm of possibilities for the average Joe sitting at his computer in Fessenden, N.D., to communicate with jet setting and often hard-to-reach presidential candidates, whether it’s by e-mail, MySpace comment posts or the upcoming webcasts.

In today’s online climate, says Steve Grove, YouTube’s news and politics editor, in Ostrom’s article, “politicians are hearing the hearts and minds of the American people in new ways.”

Talk to the education finance advisors at NextStudent. They have all the information and advice you need on student loans. Check out www.nextstudent.com.

Student Loan Girl

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Just Call Me Lackey, P. Diddy’s Lackey. No, Seriously, I Just Got Hired Off YouTube.

Student Loan Girl — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 02:54:00 GMT

Hip-hop heavy-hitter Sean “Diddy” Combs needs a new assistant, and he’s taking applications. But forget about that pricey linen résumé paper and your perfectly worded cover letter. For this job, you’ll have to get up front and personal with a video camera—and with a YouTube potential audience of millions.

Diddy videotaped and posted his first help-wanted ad on YouTube on July 11 and is asking his potential future assistants to respond with their own three-minutes-or-less application videos, explaining why they should get the job.

So far, nearly 700 videos have been posted. YouTube viewers will pick the finalists, with Diddy choosing the ultimate winner.

“It’s an interesting way to engage his fan base, and it’s a creative way to do it,” says John Challenger, chief of the recruiting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, in an article by Angel Jennings in The New York Times (“Diddy Rants on YouTube to Recruit New Assistant,” July 30, 2007). “It’s like American Idol, and you can only choose one.”

Wanted: Detail-Oriented, Waterproof Multitasker, Wardrobe Engineer, Dessert-Messenger

Diddy turned to YouTube to find a replacement for his former assistant, “who did everything from holding his umbrella in the rain to playing chaperone to his hip-hop group Da Band,” writes Jennings.

Diddy’s two video clips don’t offer a job description, but if you ever read or saw The Devil Wears Prada, you might start to have a pretty good idea of what’s involved. Diddy “once made members of Da Band walk from Manhattan to Brooklyn to fetch him a slice of cheesecake,” writes Jennings. “And his last assistant, whom he named Fonzworth Bentley, became famous as the umbrella-toting manservant often seen fluffing Mr. Combs’s bow ties on the red carpet.”

So you may have to, at Diddy’s whim, give up the name you’ve had your whole life or essentially forgo a name altogether, becoming known to the rest of the world as little more than Diddy’s flunky. But the 24/7 connection to a recording baron and music impresario can eventually make the lackey lifestyle worth the peon status. Bentley, whose pre-Diddy given name was Derek Watkins, has used his job as Diddy’s assistant to propel himself “into endorsement deals, a record contract—and a line of umbrellas.”

P.S. — Desired Minion Must Be Literate, College Graduate

Diddy’s first video posting left the applicant door open to pretty much anyone with access to a video camera. His second posting reveals a possible realization that the door may have been propped a little too wide. “You’ve got to know how to read, you’ve got to know how to write,” Diddy says in his second clip. “I hope you know you’ve got to have a college degree.”

Which isn’t to say he’s looking for the conventional, wide-eyed recruit. “It’s a new age, new time, new era,” Diddy says. “Forget coming into the office and having a meeting with me and being all nervous.” And if the new assistant manages to sneak in with nerves of even a little less than steel, being Diddy’s on-call right hand should correct that. “What better job than that to have me scream at you, go crazy, keep you up at late hours, have you sleep-deprived?” Diddy challenges.

As Fonzworth Bentley, né Derek Watkins, can tell you, there’s always time for sleep a couple years from now. Maybe when you’re on a lunch break from your umbrella company.

It’s important to keep up to date on the effects of legislation and news on student loans and education. What goes on in government and in your state can have a great impact on your student loans and your college education. For all the information you need about student loans, go to www.nextstudent.com.

Be sure to tune in next Wednesday for my next blog on student loan legislation in the news.

Student Loan Girl

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YouTube Videos on Wii-“TV” Beats Apple Big Time

Student Loan Girl — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 16:22:00 GMT

Since you are home for the summer or at least classes are far behind you, now is your chance to engage in what is truly important. I am talking about getting back into gaming with your old best friend, Mr. Wii. It is time and you deserve it. Go ahead, invite some friends over, fill the fridge and stock up on the snacks. The fun begins tomorrow…

Let this Summer’s Wii-Games Begin

For all you Wii-geeks out there, more talented at high scores on your console than in the classroom, you may have a summer full of fun and games ahead of you. What many may not know, though is that you can stream YouTube videos on your favorite Nintendo appliance. You probably heard about the recent release of Apple TV where according to Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, “‘This is the first time users can easily browse, find and watch YouTube videos right from their living room couch.’” This quote is from Alexis Gentry’s blog found at http://denver.yourhub.com/Denver/Stories/Entertainment/Movies/Story~315618.aspx .

Though, according to Gentry, Apple TV is not really the first. As she mentions, “I've been browsing, finding and watching YouTube videos right from my living room couch for weeks now on my Nintendo Wii, which connects wirelessly to the internet and includes an Opera browser. With my Wii, which costs $50 less than the Apple TV, I'm not only able to watch videos on YouTube, but I can browse any site on the net and bookmark favorites just as easily as I can on my computer. Oh, and the Wii also plays some amazing games!”

Less for More with Apple TV?

Like many who are often awed by a new high-tech release, the Apple TV seemed pretty sweet at first. However, I really do not think that it quite lives up to its billing. Back to Gentry’s review:

“I admit, I thought the Apple TV was cool when I first saw it in the Apple store. Watching the videos in my iTunes library (and thanks to programs like TubeSock and HandBrake I have hundreds) on my TV was a cool opportunity. The other features, like watching movies or listening to my music, were pretty inconsequential. I already have speakers for my iPod and can rent all the movies I want to see from Netflix on DVD for as little as $4.99. The iTunes store, by comparison, makes me pay $9.99 for a movie that only plays on my iPod and doesn't even include any special features or bonus material.”

Besides all that, viewing YouTube videos on your Wii-“TV” is a cinch. Gentry explains further:

“After skimming the blog posts, I decided to try to watch one of the embedded YouTube videos. To my pleasant surprise, it loaded really fast and played right there on my TV. I immediately went to youtube.com to see more videos, finding all my favorites and playing them in full-screen mode as if they were on-demand clips. I couldn't help but think to myself, ‘If someone could get the Wii, why on earth would they want an Apple TV?’

“The best part of viewing the videos on the Wii is that there's no need for me to rip them from YouTube, pay a cent for them on the Apple Store, or spend any time converting them to a format that will work on my TV. I simply visit youtube.com, find the video I want and click play just like I would if I was checking out the video on my computer.”

Better Bang for the Buck with Wii

Gentry summarized her experience with both appliances by saying, “Since both the Apple TV and the Nintendo Wii have some similar functions, it seems like a natural choice to pick the one that does all that and more, especially if it costs $50 less.” And if you have to guess which one she is talking about, you need to put your Nintendo down NOW and pay attention. Apple TV may not be that big of a deal, and your Wii may do more than you imagined.

The Education Finance Advisors at NextStudent can help you figure in all your college expenses so that you get the student loan that best suits your needs. Don’t get caught short. Go to www.nextstudent.com for all your student loan needs.

Check back here next Friday for my next blog on Campus Life.

Student Loan Girl

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Social Networking: Hip, Cool and Fun … But Be Smart

Student Loan Girl — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 18:19:00 GMT

There now is little doubt about social networking becoming an integral part of our culture. It almost is a foregone conclusion. I know you and your friends for years have been into MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, and many other such networks. But mom and dad—“the parent generation”—are just starting to get a clue.

I realize that last week I touched on social networks and how to get a job through them. This week I want to issue a caution for all of you out there who have become totally absorbed, dare I say obsessed, with meeting people and “doing your thing” online.

Do Not Let This Be You

Just ask Cameron Walker or Kurt Vachon. A few years back they had a short stint of fame I am sure they would rather forget, and quickly. Remember, they were the guys from Fisher College in Boston who tried to get a security guard fired by setting up a petition and posting it on Facebook.com? Both ended up getting expelled from school. Here is the story if you missed it: http://www.physorg.com/news8698.html.

Another interesting tidbit I found on Wikipedia gives details on how Facebook “is increasingly being used by school administrations and law enforcement agencies as a source of evidence against student users.” Here is the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook's_use_in_investigations.

You seriously need to look into this and pay attention. I do not say this to scare you or even to get you to close your Facebook account. No, what I am attempting to impart to you is a bit of wisdom. Be smart in what you say and how you say it. Honestly, is it a good move to air your dirty laundry, or give far too many incriminating details that could come back to haunt you later?

Most recently the CIA set up a Facebook page (see my blog from Jan. 26, 2007) and joins many other employers in the social network community. Do you really think that these employers want to hire someone who “parties all the time” or engages in behavior perceived as blatantly irresponsible?

Simple Solution With Minimum Hassle

Here is a great idea: If you absolutely must brag to your friends about a recent event that was so earth-shattering it was practically religious in nature, why not try more conventional methods. Like contacting your core group of friends directly through e-mail, instant messaging, or, in the case of MySpace, send an announcement. This may well keep you out of trouble and below the radar. And no, just for the record, I am not condoning methods that enable you to conceal immature behaviors or break the rules of your school behind the backs of college administrators.

Bloggers: Take Note

For all you bloggers out there, both those who post and those who comment, be careful too. This past Sunday, Jan. 28, 2007, a blogger by the name of Shoemoney (Jeremy Shoemaker) got a rude awakening, and it was not from anything he did. Shoemoney was served a subpoena to testify in a slander lawsuit stemming from a comment someone made on his blog. Unreal! Here is the story: http://www.revenews.com/carstencumbrowski/2007/01/legal_issues_with_blog_comment.html.

So, if you have a blog, conservative or outlandish, just be sensitive of the content you post. If someone posts a comment that is way over the top, is slanderous or just plain mean or evil, you may want to consider removing it, for your sake.

Check back here next Friday for my next blog on Campus Life.

Student Loan Girl

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