New UI Energy Drink!

Havoc Distribution recently announced that it will be producing a University of Illinois Energy Drink. The drink will be sold and distributed across Illinois.

CK Williams, president of Havoc, said: "This is another example of the success that we are achieving as a company in executing our marketing program of co-branding our product. And to be partnered with an institution with the reputation of the University of Illinois is an honor and very exciting."

In a school where late study sessions and all-nighters are typical, the new energy will be a good addition to any student's fridge. The drink won't really be anything special, just the normal Havoc Energy Drink with an orange and blue label.

According to the Havoc Energy website: HAVOC® is a refreshing energy drink with stimulating and invigorating effects that is ideal for the modern person's work and leisure routine. The refreshing flavor, unique among the energy drinks, guarantees a perfect symphony of emotions. All this thanks to a well crafted and healthy composition of natural ingredients. None of the important ingredients of HAVOC have an effect on their own. The secret lies in the refined composition of ingredients. It improves your stamina and performance and even tastes great.

Havoc Energy Website
News Report from TradingMarkets.com

Reading Day 2008

Well, the semester is officially over. Classes are finished and all that's left is final exams. Today is Reading Day. It's been in debate for years as to what the purpose of this day really is. Do they expect us to read all day? I think it is meant to be a day off, after class and before exams. To those of you who have exams on Friday, today would probably be a great day to study. For those of you who have nothing to study for, or are just too lazy, here are some ideas to fill your day:

Top Ten Things to do on Reading Day:
10. Study for Finals
9. Go outside and enjoy the weather
8. Go home and skip finals
7. Come back to campus when your parents find out you're skipping finals
6. Return your stolen cafeteria items to the "amnesty box"
5. Recycle all your notes (or toss them into a [safe and contained] fire)
4. Browse Facebook (all day)
3. Go to your normal Thursday classes and wonder where everyone is
2. Sleep
1. Read!?! (It is reading day.)

Good luck on your exams!

Finals Week: Turn off the Distractions

When you're studying or doing final projects, Facebook and other "Internet time wasters" are a real problem. Robert Scoble noticed this in a recent post:

Want to get something done? Turn off Twitter. Turn off Facebook. Turn off blog comments. Turn off FriendFeed. Turn off Flickr. Turn off YouTube. Turn off Dave Winer’s blog and Huffington Post.

Not productive enough? Turn off the Internet

We college students only need to worry about the big one: Facebook. How can you turn it all off? Short of disconnecting the Internet or modifying your HOSTS file, blocking a website is hard to do. I propose that you simply turn off all email alerts in Facebook, and then make a promise to yourself that you won't visit any of these time-wasting sites until the sweet, sweet summer. (Although this sounds easier than it actually is, it is indeed possible)
If you really want to get something done these last three weeks, turn it all off.

Physics Exams

Of all of my exams so far on campus, Physics exams (PHYS 211, 212, 213, 214) must be some of the most intensive. I'm only an average physicist, so these tests really challenge me. Studying for these include studying past hour exams, notes, quizzes, discussion section problems, labs, online homeworks, online supplemental material, and the equation sheets. Whew! It'll all be over Wednesday night. Then it starts all over again.

(yes, I'm writing this post to procrastinate studying for my exam)

Photo: Paul Kwiat, Professor of Physics (right). Courtesy the UIUC News Bureau.