GeekSugar

How To: Behave on an Internet Forum

GeekSugar — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:00:00 PDT

I love the hilarious "how to" vids I come across on VideoJug that keep me on point with subjects ranging from learning how to speak geek, getting a free airline upgrade, and even how to safely (and eco-conciously) clean my computer. But really, I'm always on the lookout for a great "how to" that I can share with my geeky cohorts that may just make them lol. So for today's how to, I present: How to Behave on an Internet Forum.

Maybe some of you haven't been on a forum since the early 2000s, but these intricate and finite rules can apply to comments on blog posts, too. You know the annoying offenders that troll forums: They post snide, off-topic remarks, attack other commenters when they post their opinions, and everybody just wishes they would go away? You don't want to be that guy do you? I didn't think so. Check out the video and ensure that you won't.

Source

10 Places to Meet Your Future Geeky Boyfriend

GeekSugar — Tue, 01 May 2012 14:02:36 PDT

Here's a question every geeky gal wants answered: "Where can I meet a single geek?" For all the single ladies out there, here are 10 possible places to uncover scores of single geeks.

By the way, leave your other tech-related questions on our Facebook page, in the comments, or in our Ask a Geek Girl group.

Neighborhood coffee shops - Bring a book or your laptop and hang out at an independent coffee shop several times a week. You're more likely to see regulars (aka good-looking geeks) at local joints than you would at a chain. For an easy opener, ask if you can share the table, then spark up a conversation.
Night classes - Whether it's a dance lesson, coding class, or novel-writing seminar, classes are a great place to meet a future brainy mate. Pounce on the opportunity to partner up with the cute geek in the room, whether it's to complete a project, study, or edit each other's work.

See the rest of the list when you read more.

Secrets to Saving on Your 7 Favorite Indulgences

Emily Co — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 13:25:48 PDT

We all have our weaknesses, and yours may be a Starbucks addiction or even an avid book reading habit. Although we advocate saving, we're also a big fan of being able to indulge on occasion. After all, if you keep denying yourself, it might be counterintuitive because you may end up buying on impulse. Here are some ways you can still enjoy your favorite purchases, yet save at the same time:

Starbucks: Sign up for a Starbucks card and you can accumulate rewards such as free drinks. Once you buy five drinks, you get free syrup or soy milk and free refills on brewed coffee, iced coffee, or iced tea. You'll also get a free tall drink if you buy a bag of coffee beans. Once you buy over 30 drinks, you get a free drink for every 15 drinks you buy. As a card holder, you'll also get a free drink of your choice on your birthday.

Frugal secret: You can make your own Starbucks drinks in your own home. Check out Squawkfox's recipe for a homemade Starbucks Frappuccino that costs only 32 cents to make. Don't forget to also check out YumSugar's Starbucks-inspired pumpkin spice latte recipe.
Books: If you got a thing for books, there's always the library of course. But for those who just love permanent additions to their budding book collection, you can consider joining book clubs like Barnes & Nobles, which sends regular discounts and coupons to your inbox. You can also get really cheap indie ebooks for free or for 99 cents on Amazon. Some of the books are actually really good, but check out the reviews before buying if you don't want to waste your time on a dud.
Frugal secret: Shhh, don't let anyone know, but you can get free books from authors, even the acclaimed and famous ones, if you try this trick. A lot of times, you can even get the book ahead of its release. All you have to do is start building up a nice repertoire of really solid and detailed book reviews on Amazon or Good Reads, the social network for book recommendations. If your Amazon reviews are good, people will start voting on them, which may qualify you for Amazon's Vine program, an exclusive club that "invites the most trusted reviewers on Amazon to post opinions about new and prerelease items." And if you're a popular Good Reads reviewer, authors will start reaching out to you to review their books.
Yoga: You can save on yoga classes by subscribing to daily deal sites and keeping an eye out for discounts at your local yoga studio. Lululemon also offers free yoga classes, so you might want to check out your local shop. A lot of studios have free or donation-based classes on occasion, so you might want to check with them, too.
Frugal secret: Become a yoga teacher to get access to free classes. You don't have to worry about teaching taking up too much of your time because I have friends who teach only once or twice a week and still get the perks of a full-time teacher, such as being able to attend classes for free. You can also offer to trade services (writing, graphic design, admin, or whatever skill you can provide) with the studio in exchange for free classes.

Read on for more.

Pros and Cons of Online Classes

Kristy Korcz — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 11:54:30 PDT

There's an increasing number of paid and free online classes you can take to learn a new trade, brush up on your calculus skills, and even learn a language, but are online classes the best way to go? For some, it takes the edge off of the skyrocketing tuition costs in the US (since you can sometimes find online classes at a lower price). While for others, it's a great idea in theory but requires huge amounts of self-discipline to complete. Here, we'll take a look at the pros and cons of online learning verses the traditional college education. Which is right for you?

Pros

It's applicable to the real world and the pace of business. More workers are telecommuting full-time and learning in an online environment requires the same self-discipline as working solo from home.
You can learn from anywhere. You don't have to be at school to go to school, which would be exceptionally helpful during busy holiday travel seasons or any other time a last-minute trip to mom and dad's is necessary.
It could lower costs for students and institutions. Online classes may translate to lots of online reading material, eliminating the need for the pricey trip to the campus bookstore (and the sore arms that go along with carrying a semester's worth of books).
It could encourage more interaction. It seems counterintuitive, but an online forum can give shier students a chance to be heard, allow for easier discussion of potentially controversial subjects, and make it easier and more efficient for a student to approach a professor. Goodbye, crazy lines during office hours.
A student's program can be tailored to individual needs. If you're not a morning person, a 9 a.m. class could be torture. If you have access to an online lecture 24/7, you can tune in when your brain is fully awake, meaning better performance and retention.

Cons

Your living room may not be the best place to learn. Though learning at your own pace and time can seem like the optimal situation, there's something to be said for getting out of your house and into a classroom, away from distractions like the Internet, TV, and, of course, your bed.
In fact, you may just never leave your room. Moving around on campus = forced interaction = a better social situation. Plus, exercise!
You might miss out on meeting awesome new people. While online classes allow you to interact with others through your computer, you'll miss that oh-so-important face time with your peers.
Speaking of face time, you won't get as much of it with your professor, either. All colleges are different, but many feature at least some smaller classes where your absence or lack of participation is noticed quickly by the professor. This may encourage you to work harder, show up completely prepared for class, and in-class participation.

Teach Yourself With These Free Online Education Sites

Kristy Korcz — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:30:04 PDT

Truth is, there are an amazing number of ways you can get a quality educational experience online, without ever having to fork over any cash. The cost of a college education is pretty remarkable these days, and not everyone can afford to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a degree from an Ivy League school (especially in this economy). But nearly everyone can afford the cost of an Internet connection, or even a library card.

Named one of Time Magazine's top 50 websites of 2011, Yale's open courses allow anyone to browse through lectures and course materials that range from engineering and chemistry, to astronomy, sociology, Spanish, history, and more. But that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to free online classes. Here, a list of places to point your web browser for free classes online, so you can soak up all the knowledge your brain can handle.

MIT OpenCourseWare - With over 2,000 courses available at your fingertips, MIT OpenCourseWare should be your first (and maybe your only) stop in online learning.
Online Education Database - This website offers up a list of 200 free classes you can take online. Take some physics classes and learn about the phenomenon of superconductivity, or retake that algebra class you struggled with in high school.
OpenCulture - This website offers up a list of free classes from top universities like Stanford and UC Berkeley, and even some video lectures you can find on YouTube.
Harvard Open Learning - Watch videos of lectures on computer science and abstract algebra among others
Princeton Web Media - Browse through and take in archived lectures from Princeton's math, science, and engineering departments, and lots, lots more.

See the rest of the list after the break.

6 Places to Find a Single Geek

Kristy Korcz — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 16:38:44 PDT

In my social circle, there are more than a few gals asking themselves "Where are all the single geeks?" If you find yourself pondering this question as well, don't fret. We've rounded up six places you're likely to find some geeky love online and in the real world.

Online - According to new research, 66 percent of Gen-Y daters know someone who found love online, and there are lots of places to look. From Cupidtino to DateCraft (the insanely popular World of Warcraft dating site), you're sure to find that special geek wandering the Internet. You may even stumble upon a geek worth talking to in forums and comment sections on your favorite websites. Keep your eyes peeled - they're out there.
Sunnyvale, CA - OKCupid's recent Valentine's Day poll shows that there are more eligible geeky bachelors in Sunnyvale, CA, than anywhere else in the country. It's in the heart of the sunny, Silicon Valley, so if you're ready to settle down with a hard-working software engineer, tech expert, or entrepreneur, then head west my friends. You may also get a good tan in the process.
Google+ - The piping hot social network from Google is fresh out of the kitchen and already has over 10 million members under its belt. According to new research, 66.4 percent of Google+ members are male, so while there's no "looking for love" relationship status to select on your Google+ profile, chances are, you'll come across plenty of single geeks on this social network.

See the rest of the list when you read more.

11 Ways to Find Free Classes Online

GeekSugar — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 06:00:00 PDT

A college education will get you far in business, but according to Bill Gates (a college dropout himself), a place-based college education system that is so prominent today will soon be shadowed by what you can teach yourself online. During a recent interview at the Techonomy conference in Lake Tahoe, CA, the former Microsoft CEO predicted that in the next five years, you'll be able to find the best educational lectures for free online, which will make the Internet "better than any single university."

I'd have to agree with him on one point - there are an amazing number of ways you can get a quality educational experience online, without ever having to fork over any cash. The cost of a college education is pretty remarkable these days, and not everyone can afford to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a degree from an Ivy League school. But nearly everyone can afford the cost of an Internet connection, or even a library card. Here, I'll show you 11 places to point your web browser for free classes online, so you can soak up all the knowledge your brain can handle!

To see the list, just keep reading!

Why Going Online Helps With Weight Loss

FitSugar — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 07:00:44 PDT

It used to be that we didn't talk about our weight. But that was before the Internet. Now everyone knows our business! Facebook, the Twitter Humiliation Diet, Fitbit, and online weight tracking sites allow users to put their weight struggles under a very public eye. The good news is that it's working. A new study - the Weight Loss Maintenance Trial - suggests that weight loss is easier for people using online weight management websites.

To be included in the study as a whole, participants had to be considered overweight or obese, and had to have lost at least nine pounds within the first six months of the trial. Of this group, 348 individuals were randomly assigned to join an online weight maintenance program. The site tracked the user's weight, diet, and exercise habits - it also included a community forum. Compared to other participants, those who used the site at least once a month maintained the greatest amount of weight loss, and managed to maintain an average 44 percent of their initial weight loss.

My guess is that the accountability and online support group that the website provided was key in helping participants maintain their weight loss. Something about seeing our progress and tracking our food and exercise habits makes it hard to ignore the task at hand. Have any of you had success with online weight tracking websites? If yes, which ones?