Some call shopping a sport. And I agree. I mean, think about it. In order to get the job done right, one needs skill, technique, timing, and so much more. The only equipment you really need is a good, comfortable pair of shoes and a nice big purse (preferably with a fully-stuffed wallet and possibly a granola bar for some nourishment), and now there’s a new piece of equipment that’s going to make shopping a whole lot easier.

To get this new piece of shopping equipment, all you have to do is pull out your cell phone! No, not so you can chat it up with your friends as you bargain hunt, but so you can find the best deals on everything you’re shopping for. A new service called Pongr automatically tells you where you can get the best price on almost any item. Um, amazing?

According to the Pongr website, all you have to do is take a camera phone picture of the item you want (if it’s a book, CD, DVD, or video game) or type the UPC code or product description into a text message (if it’s clothing, shoes, electronics, or purses) and either e-mail your query to ping@pongr.com or text it to SHOPP. You’ll automatically get a text message back telling you where you can get the item for cheapest. If it’s online, you can purchase the item right from your phone and if it’s a brick and mortar store, Pongr will give you directions to the store. Read More »

And this is why I don’t buy my drugs online. Or use any form of drug that sounds a lot like those little blue creatures that lived in ’shrooms.

4 dumb high school students were rushed to the hospital (from school!) after using an herbal supplement called Snurf. What is Snurf (besides the name you give someone who farts in the bathtub) and why didn’t I know about this organic wonder-drug?

Snurf is labeled as an herbal supplement, but it is said to have similar effects to Ecstacy.

Sounds awesome, except instead of giving the kids an awesome trip, it made them all violently ill. Oh, these high school kids these days and their dabbling in drug use. Don’t they know that buying drugs online is a terrible idea? I tried to buy a Gucci bag online once and got some cheesey knock-off instead.

Looks like we are all learning some very important lessons: you can’t trust the internet for drugs or handbags. Don’t forget it!

Getting ready to throw yourself back into that world of dorming? And do you care about the environment? Well, good luck. Being green, in some dorms, is pretty freakin’ hard. Recycling bins are nowhere to be found, resources are being wasted left and right and most of the kids around you don’t care.

That doesn’t mean you have to throw in the non-recyclable towel. There are so many things you can do to reduce your carbon footprint and give back to Mother Earth. Here are some tips to help the planet and inspire your peers to do the same:

1. Skip the single serving snack-packs. Get a big bag and make your own single-serving portion in a small plastic bag when you’re on the go. Wash the bag out when you’re done and do it again the next time. It’s that easy.

2. Chill out with the AC. Tons of college students keep their AC’s running just because they can. That’s not cool! (Note: yes, the pun was intended.) Don’t act like a monkey when it comes to the environment. Leaving your AC running while you’re out hurts the planet regardless of whether or not you’re paying the bill.

3. Turn off your computer. I know, I know. It’s so tempting to leave your AIM on all day long so your friends can leave you little messages and see which classes you’re in, etc. BUT (there is always a “but”), it’s better for the planet and your computer if you just shut it off when you leave. Read More »

Let’s face it: We LOVE to gossip. We gossip about friends and we gossip about foes. Such idle talk allows us to convey information quickly, although not always accurately. This being said, it is no surprise that the website Juicy Campus has been increasing in popularity since it was founded on August 1, 2007.

When my friends first introduced me to Juicy Campus, I wrote it off as another place for people to share their college exploits online. But I quickly realized that this site was different; I actually knew the people that were being discussed! Friends, classmates, hookups—no one was free from the wrath of this critical group. Let’s just put it this way, if the “Burn Book” from Mean Girls was published online for all to see and comment on, I would imagine it would look similar to Juicy Campus.

The site was created by Mark Ivester, a Duke University Alum, with “the simple mission of enabling online anonymous free speech on college campuses.” (Editor’s Note: That’s a nice way to refer to sh*t talking!) There are currently 64 colleges listed on the site, including many prestigious institutions such as Harvard, UPenn, and Brown. The topics on the site range from the innocent (”Best Frat on Campus”) to the scandalous (”Sex with Professors”). Each post gets a rating ranging from 0% Juicy to 100% Juicy, so the juicier the gossip, the better the rating. Read More »

Okay, I’ll admit it: I’m paranoid. Seriously. I look over my shoulder when I walk home at night. I don’t accept phone calls from numbers I don’t know. It’s not a fear thing; it’s more irritation that I can be tracked down.

Which is why I am fascinated by all the little internet thingies that claim to be able to find personal information (location, phone number, etc.) if you only just plug in the name. I mean, are they accurate? Are some better than others?

I tried to use some of them to track down an old friend, but given that old friend’s name is Jen Jones, I had way too many results with no real way to tell if I was getting the right person.

So I decided to test some of them with my own name (I mean, I know my own information, right? I hope?) and here are the results:

Intelius People Search

There were a LOT of possible me’s, but, voila! There I was, nestled in between my name dopplegangers, there for the world to see. It even listed my correct age (and my middle initial!). However, they made a little mistake–I’m listed as living in my hometown, where I haven’t lived for over 6 years and definitely haven’t been registered at for almost 3. Still, pretty impressive. Read More »

The Internet is a nasty place. Especially for women. We all know that, but yet we stay on it. Some of us constantly. Valleywag recently featured an article titled “5 reasons why women really do need to get off the Internet.”

The reasons themselves may at first seem valid until you really think about them:

Because it’s a nasty breeding ground for predators and there’s nothing women can do about it.

Because we don’t know any better than to overshare.

Because there’s nothing worse in this world than being called a slut.

Because we’re giving it up for nothing!

Because men don’t believe we’re real women anyway.

I was shocked while reading this article, until I came to the conclusion that it must be satire. Or do women actually believe we need to get off the Internet?

My reasons women should stay on the Internet:

There is something women can do about the predators: Not talk to sketchballs online. Not give away personal information. Keep your social networking accounts private. Be smart, like many of us are. Read More »

Shopping can be hard work. How many times have you walked out of a store or clicked off a website saying, “I’ll come back later to see if it goes on sale”? And how many times have you actually remembered to go back and check? Wouldn’t life be so much easier if you had a personal shopper?

Well, now you can have your very own personal shopper with just a few clicks of the mouse. The new website, Shop It To Me, is your web-based personal shopper, helping you shop the best deals with barely any work on your part. Shopping where I can sit back and relax (and possibly even nap) and still find good bargains? Count me in! Read More »

Admit it: you love Facebook. And MySpace. Maybe you have a blog, or you comment on one. Blogs and social networking sites are a great way to keep in touch with friends and family, post pictures and pontificate on your latest drama.

But who ELSE is keeping track of your online persona?

Well, for one, your future employer. By now you’ve probably heard that many HR people head straight to Facebook or MySpace after that big interview you thought you nailed. Maybe you never got around to removing “getting wasted” from your interests, or de-tagging that picture of you with a cigarette in one had and a drink in the other. Things like these are warning signs to future bosses–if they think you spend most of your time drinking and smoking, they’re going to wonder whether or not it will affect your job performance.

What about a work blog? My friend, lets call her…Jonie, kept a blog while working as an assistant for a crazy financial guy. It was juicy and hilarious and a great read and…she got caught. She didn’t get fired, but she pretty much had to resign soon after. She never used her own name on the blog, nor did she use her boss’s name or the company’s information. But somehow her boss got a hold of the link, and he knew right away who it was about. Busted, big time. Read More »