What Computer for College - 2008 Edition

So every year we get a few requests about "What computer should I buy for college?" Here are some of our thoughts, as well as some specifics that every new computer should have.

Laptop or Desktop (or Tablet)? - I'd say a large majority of college students have laptops, simply because the mobility of a laptop is important to students who are on-the-go. Further, a laptop is simply easier to move around while moving in and out of your dorm room. Laptops are more expensive, however, so this is a trade off decision that you must make yourself.

Tablet PCs are still a specialized category of computer - most students do not get this unless they know that they need a tablet PC. Most of the major online retailers (Dell, HP, Lenovo, Toshiba) have tablet PC options.

PC or Mac? - Most people don't really need to ask this question, as you should just get whatever you've been using before at home or school. Macs do have the reputation of being less buggy, more stylish, and simpler to use than Windows. These things come at a hefty price tag, though, as a PC is often much cheaper than an equivalent Mac laptop or desktop.

Vista or XP? - right after Windows Vista was released, some people were sticking with Windows XP, but now that Vista has been updated significantly, there is no reason that a new computer should be purchased without a copy of the latest, most secure version of Windows - Vista.

Now some idea on specifications (these are more appropriate for Windows laptops)

Screen Size - This defines the overall size of the laptop. A 15" display is the typical average, but some students will get a smaller screen because they want to be more mobile, or a bigger (17 inch) screen if they want a desktop replacement (a computer that they intend to leave on their desk a majority of the time)

RAM/Memory - If you're getting Windows Vista, 2 GB of memory is a must, if not 3 GB.

CPU Speed - Intel Core 2 Duo is important to get if you want a speedy laptop - do not get a Celeron or a Intel Dual Core. 2 GHz is the typical speed, and slight deviations from this (e.g. 2.2 GHz) won't affect overall performance that much.

Hard Drive - A typical hard drive is between 150-250 GB for laptops. This is plenty of space for a decent amount of music and school documents. If you will be doing video editing (which takes up more hard drive space), you may want to get something bigger.

Optical Drive - A standard laptop will come with a CD Burner + DVD Player. This is probably enough for an average student, but a DVD-burner upgrade is nice if you want to burn DVDs of video or for backups.

Video Card - A laptop will probably not play games very well, simply because a top-of-the-line video card cannot fit into the laptop. The standard video card is fine for everyday use.

Wireless - Wireless is essential for school laptops. Upgrades to "802.11 Draft N" or things with "N" are not essential - your school wireless will use the widely standardized 802.11b.

Speed up Illinois Compass

When I reinstalled Windows last December, I didn't install the Java Plugin on purpose, because U of I's Blackboard Learning System (branded Illinois Compass) does a Java check on each login. This Java check takes forever, and is much shorter if Java is not installed (which makes no sense). I have not had any reason to install Java for three months. It was a great decision, and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to speed up their Illinois Compass browsing times.

Windows Vista NetStumbling

Everyone knows that with wireless internet (802.11a/b/g) having a non-broadcasting SSID is a joke. On Windows XP, a popular program to find all the wireless networks available in your area was a great program called Netstumbler.

Netstumbler does not work very well with Windows Vista, however. Never fear, internet-stealers, all the functionality of your old Netstumber is available natively in Windows Vista from the command line. Simply type the following two commands into a command shell window:

netsh
wlan show networks mode=bssid

Micrsoft: Netsh Commands for Wireless Local Area Network

UIUC Class Registration, Part I

It's that time of year. Class registration for Spring 2008 classes is in full swing at the University of Illinois.

Class registration is done through "UI-Integrate Self-Service." It is also called "Banner" or "Enterprise" by some. All these names refer to the same online system, located at https://ui-integrate.apps.uillinois.edu. You can get to this website many ways, and most people have their own unique way of getting there (the link on the Course Catalog site, for example).

The time at which you are allowed to register is called your time ticket. Your time ticket is determined by your class as well as if you are in select groups (James Scholars, marching band members, and varsity athletes get to register before everyone else). To see your exact time ticket, log in to UI-Integrate Self-Service, but to see the generalized groups, there is a list on the Office of Records website.

Choosing your classes is normally easy. All majors have a flow chart of classes that are suggested each semester. This chart can be found at the bottom of the description of your major on the UIUC Course Catalog. If you need to choose some GenEd courses, you can follow the links on the Course Catalog and choose a class that is interesting.

Getting your classes into a schedule that you approve of can be more difficult. There are a few online services that allow you to choose your classes easily. The service I like the most is IlliNexus Schedule Planner. Using this tool, you can input your classes, and then turn classes on and off to easily see when the classes fall each week. After you choose your perfect schedule in IlliNexus, you can sign up for those classes with the click on a button at the bottom of the screen. Beware - some of the classes could be filled, and when you sign up for all the classes in your perfect schedule, they will all be added except for one or two of the classes that are full. This really ruins your schedule, so if you're signing up for a class that could potentially be full, you should check the status of the capacity by logging into UI-Integrate and looking up the course. This will show you how many spaces are taken and remaining in each class.

Another online class schedule service is Scheedule. Scheedule is developed by the UIUC chapter of ACM, and is very good. Scheedule gives you all the different options of class combinations by scrolling through them. You can also specify your class preferences, like your favorite times of day, or clustered/spread out classes. Scheedule is also a very good scheduling tool.

So that is basically the process. If you like a lot of control over your schedule, I'd recommend IlliNexus Schedule Planner; but if you are lazy and just want a schedule that works, Scheedule will give you the best option without much thinking required by you.

Do you have other ways of scheduling your classes? Let us know in the comments. Happy Scheduling!

Never bring a laptop to class

Laptops in the classroom are the latest trend in college. Almost every freshman coming to school has a brand new laptop that he's just itching to break out and bring to class, outside, and in the bathroom.

This proliferation of laptops begs the question: Does taking notes in class on a laptop really work?

No.

Oops . . . did I say that out loud? Taking notes on your laptop computer does not work for many reasons. First, the University of Illinois has wireless internet access everywhere. This means when you should be taking notes on that spiffy laptop computer, you'll actually playing games online, IM-ing friends, and browsing Facebook. If you really think about it, you will admit to yourself that this is a true problem and that your laptop will be a net distraction. (no pun intended)

Further, in order to be the most productive, all of your class materials should be in the same medium so it's easier to access when studying. For example, if you have 10 handouts from your class TA in paper form, but your notes are in electronic form on the computer, when studying you'll have to be transferring between your computer screen and notes. This makes it hard to concentrate on the actual material, because your mind is constantly deciding where you should be looking. This causes a loss in productivity, which, if time studying is kept constant, will result in a lower class grade.

Finally, some note-taking tips:

43 Folders: Note Taking Tips?

Lifehack: Advice for Students: Taking Notes that Work

Image: HP Pavilion ZV6115EA licensed under public domain

New Illinois Compass could have anti-plagiarism technology

Although the details are vague, Campus Technology reports that Blackboard, the maker of the Blackboard Learning System - the system that is referred to as Illinois Compass at U of I, has released Anti-Plagiarism technology for their products. The technology has been around for awhile in other products, but has never been incorporated into a large classroom learning system like the Blackboard Learning System (Illinois Compass).

If incorporated into Illinois Compass, instructors could potentially require paper submissions through Illinois Compass and the system would automatically compare the paper to databases of published papers, internet sources, and past papers submitted under the anti-plagiarism system.

There are no reports yet, however, if the new Illinois Compass has these features installed. The online Illinois Compass documentation does not mention it, but as this is a feature release by Blackboard, UIUC CITES Educational Technologies may have not even known of the feature until now.

NCSA awarded $208 million for supercomputer

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has received funding through the National Science Foundation to build a supercomputer 500 times faster than current supercomputers. This is huge - we're again at the top of supercomputing power! (We were eighth) The National Center for Supercomputing Applications will manage the new system, called "Blue Waters." Way to go NCSA.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) will receive $208 million over 4.5 years to acquire and make available a petascale computer it calls "Blue Waters," which is 500 times more powerful than today's typical supercomputers. The system is expected to go online in 2011.

National Science Board Approves Funds for Petascale Computing Systems

Cites VPN for Windows Vista

University of Illinois CITES has now released a VPN solution for Windows Vista users. As you may know, VPN is required for all CITES wireless access if you don't want to use the feeble "Quick Connect" option. Links for CITES VPN are below:

CITES VPN Home
CITES VPN for Windows Vista

A look at the NCSA

1200 Dell PowerEdge 1955s blades
90 teraflops of processing power
9.6 terabytes of DDR2 RAM

. . . And that is just one of the five working supercomputers at the NCSA here on the University of Illinois campus. This interesting report details the history of the NCSA, how much computing power they actually have, and what they do about heat and energy with all those computers running 24/7.

TG Daily - NCSA: A look inside one of the world's most capable supercomputer facilities

What kind of laptop for college?

Note: Please see the 2008 version of this article for the latest recommended specs.

I bought a Dell Inspiron 6400 laptop last summer. Here are my opinions on what kind of laptop computer to bring to college. (Desktop recommendations will come soon. If you use Apple computers, this does not apply to you.)

I went with Dell because they had a good deal. Although I bought a Dell, I think most of the brands are fairly similar (HP, Dell, Sony). Sony has been known to have some well built computers – at a premium price. I have always used Dell, though, so I don’t know firsthand about the other brands.

Purchasing computers online is kind of difficult, because deals will come and go daily, so you have to be on top of it, checking often to get the best deal. Remember - the price on one day could be completely different the next day!

As long as you don't play any intensive video games, pretty much any processor will be fine. I normally recommend the Intel Core 2 Duo processors in laptops because they have lower power consumption, even though Dell is really trying to push their AMD processors.

Wireless is really important. Try to get Intel PRO/Set wireless if possible, and make sure it’s 802.11 a/b/g (as opposed to only 802.11 b). 802.11 draft N is now available, but it has not been approved by the IEEE, so it may end up not being compatible with future implementations.

The laptop will probably come with Windows Vista, which is more resource intensive than Windows XP. This means I would recommend getting 2 GB of RAM memory instead of 1 GB (what will come with the laptop by default). This will allow full use of the new Windows Vista Aero Glass interface.

You don’t have to worry about video cards too much (again, if you don't play many intensive video games).

The size of the screen is very important, because this is the size of the laptop. I would recommend making sure you know what size you are buying – get your hands on them and see what kind you are comfortable with (Make a trip to Best Buy). Mine is a 15.4” wide screen, and I think that is pretty large. I don’t know if I could stand a 17”, but that’s just me.

The University of Illinois doesn’t have any major restrictions that would require you to get a special type of computer. The wireless is standard, as are all of the internet jacks. He will get free VirusScan from UIUC also, so you don’t have to worry about buying that. There are network printers that you can use in the dorms, although they are kind of a hassle to walk to, and it costs $0.03/print, so most people bring a printer.

Finally, if you plan to write papers and collaborate, Microsoft Office is suggested. After you are a U of I student, you can buy office at a discounted rate.

Friday Email Management

Happy Friday!

How about you change your Email Policy today? Get to Inbox Zero

Instructions here:
Merlin Mann: Inbox Zero

University of Illinois Network Upgrade

Did you know that the UIUCNet Network is currently being upgraded? "CITES is currently just over two years into the project, an ambitious five-year, $20-million initiative that began in late 2004 to upgrade more than 260 campus buildings with the latest in state-of-art data networking technology."

For information on the project, see the CITES status page:
About the Campus Network Upgrade Project
Also, check out the Year 1 report:
http://www.cites.uiuc.edu/projects/netupgrade/cnupprogressreport.pdf

This is really exciting for the University of Illinois community. Some of the highlights are wireless internet access in all public locations and 10 Mbps connections to every computer on the campus! Go CITES!

Spell Check Firefox Text Input Fields

We've all seen misspelled article titles (especially on Digg.com) Doesn't Firefox have built-in spell checking?

Quick Tip: Spell Check Firefox Text Input Fields

Computer Science

Why a computer science degree? Here's why!

Okay, so the classes are HARD. That’s the best part. Getting your ass kicked gives a bit of perspective into the working world of programming. There are HARD problems. HARD problems are fun. The great developers that I know are always trying to tackle tough problems and expand their knowledge.

A Computer Science Degree Doesn't Hurt (Much)

Vista plus Intel wireless adapter

If you own a laptop and you are running Windows Vista with the Intel PROset Wireless driver, apparently Vista thinks it can just turn off your wireless adapter whenever it thinks it needs more battery power. I personally do not like when my computer tells me when to be connected to the internet. Here's how to turn off the power features:

1. Right-click on "Computer" and click "Properties"


2. Click "Device Manager" on the left hand side.


3. Double-click on "Network Adapters"


4. Double-click on Intel PRO/Wireless


5. Click on the "Power Management" Tab


6. Un-check all the check boxes.


7. Click OK