studenthacks.org

Now that the school semester just ended, it’s time to catch up on some reading.

I’m a big fan of Google Reader, but there are a bunch of other great RSS readers out there.

Here’s a nifty collection of RSS readers you may not know about:

Alertbear
Desktop-based feed reader for Windows.

Alesti
An RSS reader based on Ajax. Very simple, clean interface.

Bloglines
Organize, save, and share all your favorite feeds — and it’s completely free.

Fastladder
Fastladder claims to help you read the most amount of feeds in the shortest time-frame.

Fav.or.it
Allows you aggregate RSS feeds like a typical reader - and allows you to leave comments on blog posts without leaving the site.

FeedDemon
Get your RSS feeds sent directly to your Windows desktop. Requires Microsoft Windows.

Feedreader
A desktop-based feed reader. It’s like a feed reader in Microsoft Outlook.

FeedShow
Free online feed reader that lets you save items locally and covert posts to PDF or print format.

GoogleReader
Organize your feeds into folders, share with friends, save your favorites, and add notes to any post you want. My favorite.

GreatNews
It automatically stores all your feeds locally, so you have access to the feeds even if the site is down. It also integrates nicely into Bloglines.com.

GritWire
It’s a personal page like Netvibes that has a SpeedFeed Reader application.

MSN Start
A typical personalized page (a la iGoogle) where you can add feeds of your favorite sites.

My Yahoo
A personalized page that allows you to add your RSS feeds.

Netvibes
A clean-lookin’ personalized page that allows you subscribe to feeds. I have several friends who like using Netvibes because of the sweet interface.

NewsAlloy
A web-based feed reader that is Mobile/PDA enabled.

NewsGator
The site offers a free web-based RSS feed reader - and a desktop version that integrates into Microsoft Office.

Rojo
A simple RSS reader - similar to Google Reader.

Sage
A nice lightweight RSS feed reader extension for Firefox.

Shrook
A free RSS feed reader for your MAC desktop.

Voyage
Visually-appealing RSS feed reader that lets you scroll through feeds with your mouse wheel.

And if you don’t know how RSS readers work, here’s a great video that shows you the benefits of subscribing to your favorite web content:

Please let me know of any others that I missed.

I’ll be glad to add them here.

As you know, I just start twittering - and I recently discovered a bunch of nifty tools and resources to make Twittering more productive and more interesting.

Check them out . . .

Twitter Search Engines

Terraminds
Search tweets or twitter profiles.

TweetScan
Archives all public tweets and makes them easy to find.

Twitterment
A search engine for twitter.

Twitter Search
Search tweets by topic in real-time.

Twitter Resources

Commuter Feed
Get traffic updates from other Twitterers.
PollDaddy
Create polls in Twitter.

ReTweet
Set an alarm for things you want to remember by retweeting.

Track This
Track your FedEx or UPS packages in Twitter.

Twits Like Me
Find twits that have similar interests as you.

TwitterAdder
Add your username and password and you’ll get 20 new followers automatically.

TwitterLocal
Find twitterers within 20 miles of where you live.

Twitter Notes
Create notes and tag them in twitter.

Twitticious
Allows you to automatically transfer all our shared links from Twitter into your Delicious bookmarks.

Twerpscan
Learn more about the people following you - and find out who to block from reading your Tweets.

Twubble
Find popular twitterers that your friends follow.

Who Should I Follow?
Simply enter your Twitter name and it will make recommendations on who you should follow.

Twitter Desktop

MadTwitter
It’s the Windows version of Twitterrific.

Spaz
An open-source Twitter client available on all AIR-compatible platforms: Windows, OS X, and Linux.

TikiTwit
Tweet from iChat.

Twadget
Twitter from Windows Vista desktop.

Twidget
Twitter from your MAC Dashboard.

Tweetahead
Free MAC widget that let’s you tweet messages from your desktop (and schedule a time when it should post).

Tweetr
Tweet directly from your desktop - works on both MAC and PC.

Twhirl
Twhirl is a free desktop client that allows you to use Twitter like an instant messenger. It makes URL shortening, contacting friends directly, and reading tweets very easy.

Twinja
Twitter from your desktop (MAC & PC) - built on AIR

Twitteroo
Quickly shorten URLs and tweet from your desktop.

Twitterrific
MAC desktop application for tweeting that costs $14.95.

Twitter Aggregators

Crowdstatus
This web application allows you to group all the people you like to follow on Twitter - and formats all the tweets into one page.

Gridjit
Lets members view the tweets of all their friends in one giant grid. It’s sort of like seeing Tweets from your different friends divided into different boxes on your iGoogle page.

GroupTweet
This lets users send private tweets to a specific number of friends.

Notches
Users send a tweet to @notches - along with a topic to review - and it gets posted on their Tweet stream. Check out the site to see the reviews and how to format your tweet if you’d like to participate.

Summize
Find out what people are talking about on Twitter by topic. Simply type in a topic - and you’ll find out what people are tweeting about. You can also subscribe to an RSS feed about any of these topics so you’ll get instantly updated.

Tweet Clouds
This site allows users to create word clouds based on tweets from a Twitter stream.

TweetVolume
Find out how often certain words are mentioned in Twitter.

Twist
It’s Google Trends for Tweets. Pretty cool.

Twitori
Find out who is tweeting with the words: love, hate, think, believe, feel, wish.

Twistory
This is currently in private beta, but it allows members to sync their twitter messages into their favorite calendar (iCal, Google Calendar).

Twitter Blocks
A visualization tool that lets you see recent updates from a user’s friend and their network.

Twitter Digest
A manageable way to read twitter updates from a variety of people. You can either visit the site or create an RSS feed to send it all to your favorite RSS reader.

TwitterMap
It’s a Twitter zeitgeist. You can see a user’s location on a Twittermap.

TwitterTroll
Find out what people are saying about a given topic.

Twitterverse
See a tag cloud of topics that people are tweeting about right now.

Quotably
Quotably turns tweets between people into a threaded conversation so that conversations between users can be easily understood. As you know, it can be difficult following conversations when tweets are directed at one person, right? @yourname.

Twitter Link Research

Alpha Twitter
Aggregates a list of links shared by Twitter users. It ranks the links and shows an archive of the most popular links shared within the last day, week, and all time.

TweetMeme
Tweetmeme aggregates the most popular links being shared in between Twitter members and posts them on the homepage.

TwitLinks
Twitlinks is an aggregator that pulls in tweets from tech industry experts. It’s a way to find out the buzz before it hits the blogs.

Twitturly
Tracks the links people are tweeting about. It ranks results based on popularity and freshness.

TwitterBuzz
Track what people are linking to right now.

Twitter Video/Pictures/Files

Seesmic
This is currently in Beta, but users can upload video directly from their webcam and post directly to Twitter by automatically posting a short video URL. It will soon allow users to record Skype video and chats.

Twiddeo
Post videos to your tweets.

Twit Plus (Twit+)
Allows users to send pictures, video or files privately to friends.

Twitter Profiles

TwitterHolic
Find out about the top 100 Twitter users, ranked by number of tweets, number of friends, and number of followers.

TwitDir
Find out who are the top 100 followed, top 100 followed, top 100 favorites, etc.

TwitterWho
Search for people on Twitter via email.

Twitter Mobile

EmailTwitter
Post Twitter updates without incurring SMS fees through email.

iTweet
This mobile site is for iPhone users.

iTwit
iPhone Twitter site.

jTwitter
View tweets and timelines on your mobile.

Remember the Milk
A web application to let you tweet on the go.

Fring
Free mobile calls and free access to twitter.

Jargong
Twitter on your smartphone.

Twapper
WAP-based interface for Twitter.

TreoTwit
Twitter on your Treo.

TwitterBerry
Twitter on your CrackBerry.

Twitter Flashlite
Twitter from your cellphone.

Twitter for Blogs

LoudTwitter
Automatically publishes a daily post on your blog that contains a digest of all your tweets.

Twitter Feed
Twitter feed will check your RSS feed at a specified time and then will post a snippet to your Twitter. It’s like having Twitter on autopilot.

TwitThis
TwitThis is a nifty little button that you can add to any of your blog posts. When clicked, it will allow visitors to immediately Twitter about your blog post with a TinyURL attached.

Twitter Tools
This tool integrates with Twitter by allowing you to create a blog post from each tweet. It will also allow you to post your tweets in your sidebar. You can also post a tweet from your WordPress Admin screen.

Twitter Widget
A WordPress widget that allows you to add a single widget to your sidebar which will display Twitter updates.

Twitgets
A sidebar widget for Wordpress that reveals your Twitter friends’ timeline.

SimpleTwitter
A WordPress plugin that shows your most recent Tweet on your blog template.

Twitter Widget Pro
This widget works for WordPress blogs and handles twitter feeds. You can pull in the feed from one user or all the tweets from your friends. It also displays profile images.

Twitter Firefox Plugins

Ludicrous
Publish updates to Twitter from your Firefox search bar.

Firefox Search Bar
This nifty plugin allows you to submit tweets directly from your sidebar.

Power Twitter
Embeds flickr pics and youtube videos right on the Twitter page you’re viewing. It also unwinds tiny urls and maps links to their full titles.

Shareaholic
Easily share links in Twitter.

Twitbin
Another sidebar plugin that lets you post tweets.

Twitterbar
Post tweets from your address bar - not search bar. Click on a small icon on the right of your address bar to see how many characters you’ve written.

TwitterFox
Publish and view your tweets.

TwitterNotifier
Find out when you’re friends update their Twitter profile with this small icon located at the bottom right corner of your Firefox browser.

TwittyTunes
This plugin will automatically list the song you’re listening to when posting a tweet - it can also show what website you’re on. You can turn this functionality on or off when tweeting.

Tweetbar
A sidebar plugin for tweeting.

I hope final exams and papers are going well for everyone. I haven’t posted this last week because I’ve been busy with finals too.

I read a fascinating article this last week from Steve Pavlina’s blog on how he managed to earn two Bachelor’s degrees in 3 semesters, while maintaining a 3.9 GPA.

Here are some highlights from his article that focuses on time management:

• I believe that having a clear goal is far more important than having a clear plan. In school I was very clear about my end goal — graduate college in only three semesters — but my plans were in a constant state of flux. Every day I would be informed of new assignments, projects, or tests, and I had to adapt to this ever-changing sea of activity. If I tried to make a long-term plan for each semester, it would have been rendered useless within 24 hours.

• Instead of using some elaborate organizing system, I stuck with a very basic pen and paper to-do list. My only organizing tool was a notepad where I wrote down all my assignments and their deadlines. I didn’t worry about doing any advance scheduling or prioritizing. I would simply scan the list to select the most pressing item which fit the time I had available. Then I’d complete it, and cross it off the list.

• If I had a 10-hour term paper to write, I would do the whole thing at once instead of breaking it into smaller tasks. I’d usually do large projects on weekends. I’d go to the library in the morning, do the necessary research, and then go back to my dorm room and continue working until the final text was rolling off my printer. If I needed to take a break, I would take a break. It didn’t matter how big the project was supposed to be or how many weeks the professor allowed for it. Once I began an assignment, I would stay with it until it was 100% complete and ready to be turned in.

• To work effectively you need uninterrupted blocks of time in which you can complete meaningful work. When you know for certain that you won’t be interrupted, your productivity is much, much higher. When you sit down to work on a particularly intense task, dedicate blocks of time to the task during which you will not do anything else. I’ve found that a minimum of 90 minutes is ideal for a single block.

• During one of these sacred time blocks, do nothing but the activity that’s right in front of you. Don’t check email or online forums or do web surfing. If you have this temptation, then unplug your Internet connection while you work. Turn off your phone, or simply refuse to answer it.

• You can probably find numerous opportunities for multitasking. Whenever you do something physical, such as driving, cooking, shopping, or walking, keep your mind going by listening to audio tapes or reading.

• If you want to master time management, it makes sense to hone your best time management tool of all — your physical body. Through diet and exercise you can build your capacity for sustained concentrated effort, so even the most difficult work will seem easier.

• While in college I could not afford to let my enthusiasm fade, or I’d be dead. I quickly learned that I needed to make a conscious effort to reinforce my enthusiasm on a daily basis. I would listen to time management and motivational tapes. I also listened to them while jogging every morning. I kept my motivation level high by reinforcing my enthusiasm almost hourly. Even though I was being told by others that I would surely fail, these tapes were the stronger influence because I never went more than a few hours without plugging back in.

Read the full article . . .

My best time to study is early in the morning.

I usually get up at 5 a.m. and start studying - and drinking coffee - by 6 a.m.

I can study straight until 3 or 4 p.m. - with brief breaks for stretching and snacks.

I then have the rest of the evening to relax and plan for my next day.

What’s your ideal study time?

I recently heard Twitter described as “instant messenger on crack.”

And that’s precisely what it is.

It’s simply a way to send short messages to potentially thousands of people in seconds.

The more people who “follow” your twitter, the more likely you’ll get quick feedback from everyone.

So I was thinking that this could actually be a great way for productive students to help each other.

If we all join Twitter and “follow” each other, we’d all have instant access to everyone whenever we’re logged on.

We could ask questions, get advice, help fellow students, or simply find out what we’re all up to.

I’m using it right now to share some interesting websites that I’m reading throughout the day.

So join me on Twitter - and let’s stay more productive.

Here’s a fun video that explains other benefits of twitter:

I received an email several weeks ago from a StudentHacker in Los Angeles.

He’s a PhD candidate—who is using a hacked notebook to organize his life.

In his blog, he describes in detail how he set up a moleskin for productivity.

Here are some highlights on how to hack your notebook:

• Make sections using sticky tabs (so you can move them around). Sections might include: inbox, projects, research, book lists, music, etc.
• Write an “abbreviations” page near the front – for all your reading/note-taking abbreviations you come up with and want to hang onto
• Use a piece of card stock or an index card for a key to your notebook (It works well for an extra bookmark also).
• The very last page of your notebook should be your index. This is for mapping where things are in your Moleskine.
• Back pocket items: index cards, thin stickies, big stickies, library card
• Number every odd page and write the date you begin the new notebook on the bottom right side of the Moleskin

Read the full post on how to create a moleskin PDA . . .

I can’t believe our semester is coming to an end.

I only have about 4 weeks to finish up all my papers.

Yikes.

Anyway, here are some great blog posts this week:

How to Be Relaxed, Even When You’re Busy
Scott Young offers some timely tips on reducing stress.

Your Individual Development Plan
Lifehack.org provides helpful advice on how to develop a personal development plan.

15 Fantastic Resources You’ll Want to Devour
Martin at the University Blog provides links to 15 great productivity articles.

Getting into Harvard without Getting An Ulcer
Find out why a Bob Dylan with good SAT scores would make a perfect Harvard applicant.

Six Habits of Highly Effective Mentors
Ben Casnocha discusses what you should look for in a mentor.

So I’ve been spending a lot of time researching online social networks for my grad project - and I stumbled across a variety of websites that aggregate online social profiles.

These sites allow you to manage multiple social network accounts and keep tabs on what you’re friends are doing online.

Digsby
Digsby helps you organize all your email, instant messaging, and social networking accounts. This is only available for Windows right now.

Fidg’t
Fidg’t aggregates friends in your email address book all into one spot. One of the nifty features about this site is the “Network Visualizer” that allows you to create “tag magnets” to see who in your network is posting items about that subject you’re interested in.

FriendFeed
Keep tabs on what all your friends are doing online with FriendFeed. You simply import your email address book and then FriendFeed scans the web looking for Amazon wish lists, diggs, flickr accounts, linkedIn profiles, blogs, social bookmarks, etc. This should be called SpyFeed.

Fuser
Fuser allows you to manage multiple email/inmail accounts (even within your online social networks). There’s even a social network leaderboard that shows you which of your friends on MySpace and Facebook communicate with you most (for whatever that’s worth).

HelloTxt
HelloTxt allows you to simply - and very easily - update your Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce, Facebook, and MySpace pages with the click of a mouse. You simply type in your message into a text box, and then submit it off to whatever networks you choose. Pretty simple.

Iminta
Iminta is a website that allows you to create unique feeds for your various online activities. For example, you can create a specific feed for your best friend that only aggregates info from your Facebook, Flickr, and MySpace page, but it won’t pull in the articles/websites that your digging, bookmarking, or voting on.

MyLifeBrand
MyLifeBrand allows you to manage up to 8 of your online social networks - like MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn - without needing to log into each one. You can also easily gather all email/inmail messages from across all the social networks you belong to. This can save you a lot of time.

Ping.fm
If you’re an online social butterfly and like to post the same information in your Facebook account, Twitter, Tumblr, and/or Wordpress blog - then Ping.fm is for you. You simply add your content once - and Ping.fm will add the same content for you across all those networks.

Socialthing!
Socialthing! is in private beta right now, but it aggregates all the activity from your friends once you import your email contact list. It will grab their flickr accounts, twitter updates, blogs, pownce info, and give it all to you in one nifty looking news feed.

Soup.io
Soup.io helps you keep updated on what all your friends are doing online (sort of like a Facebook news stream), and easily allows you to import all your activities from del.ioio.us, digg, youtube, flickr, tumblr, etc. You can also upload videos and images into your Soup.io page.

Spokeo
This is another “spy” website that allows you to track everything your friends are doing online. It aggregates their StumbleUpon data, digg votes, flickr account, facebook profile, myspace updates, etc.

I’ve probably written over 70 research papers over the last 7 years of school.

And I’ve gotten to the point where writing research papers is like second nature for me.

It’s not that I’m a better writer than anyone else, it’s just that I know how to organize information quickly.

So here is my basic process on how I write my papers step-by-step:

Research Phase: Hunting and Gathering
This is probably the most time-consuming part of the research paper. I’m a research hound, so I like to spend as much time as possible finding all the research possible. It’s during this phase that I’m doing the following:

• Refining my research subject
• Developing research questions
• Consulting librarians for their insight on my research area
• Reading journal article abstracts on the topic I’m interested in

Organizing Phase: Reading and Writing
As I’m reviewing journal articles, I’m jotting down everything I need from the article before moving on; including: citation info, potential quotes, summaries, and any referenced journal articles that look interesting. I’m also:

• Developing a potential thesis statement
• Creating a meaty bibliography
• Outlining my paper
• Inserting notes within my outline - and adding references

Drafting Phase: Writing
Once I’ve written my thesis statement and completed my outline, it’s time to begin working on my first draft. Here are the steps that I take:

• Just start writing something (I typically start in the middle somewhere)
• Make sure to cite everything (I go overboard just to be safe)
• Keep refining the thesis
• Keeping modifying the outline
• Pretend the paper is due the next day and just finish it
• Take a day off after the first draft is done - don’t look at it

Revision Phase: Editing Never Ends
Revising — as you know — means removing and adding content to make the paper better - which means nobody is ever really done. We just turn in our last and best draft. Here are my editing steps:

• Read it aloud and mark any areas that don’t sound right
• Look at all the punctuation marks - especially apostrophes
• Make sure every paragraph moves the paper along
• Eliminate passive verbs whenever possible

So that’s my strategy on how to write a research paper. I never feel completely done writing, but those steps help me get a paper finished that I’m at least happy with.

What steps do you take when writing a research paper?

Recommended Reading

• 101+ Research Resources for Students
• How to Write a Fascinating Thesis Statement
  
• How to Write Your First Draft
  
• How to Write a Great Essay in One Evening
• How to Avoid Plagiarism
• How to Proof Your Paper Like a Pro - 8 Proofreading Tips
  

If you’ve been reading productivity blogs for a while, you probably already know the basics of time management:

• Making your “To Do” list
• Focusing on one task/goal at a time
• Creating deadlines for yourself
• Rewarding yourself for accomplishing your goals
• Avoiding procrastination
• Making time to relax

It’s easy to understand these basics, but it’s another to actually apply them in real-world situations.

As you know, it’s very easy to lose focus on our daily goals - especially with email, Digg.com, Google Reader, yada, yada, yada.

So that’s why I’ve found these online resources on time management very practical:

Managing Your Time
Dartmouth developed a nifty list of online resources for time management. The article includes links to a time management video, planning documents, and free calendars to download in both Word and Excel.

Beating Procrastination
The best way to defeat procrastination is to identify it the moment it’s happening. This article provides 3 practical steps to overcome this weakness in all of us.

10 Tips for Time Management in a Multitasking World 
Even though this article is focused on today’s office environment, it definitely fits with the life of a busy student.

12 Hours to Better Time Management
Lifehack.org developed a great article on time management. Pay close attention to the first section that discusses how to set up your calendars.

61 Time Saving Tips 
This article starts by saying that “You DO have enough time for everything” and then gives you a laundry list of ways to help you accomplish all your goals.

8 Ways to Avoid Managing Your Time Effectively 
Sometimes it helps to read the opposite advice to think clearly about what we’re doing to waste time.

Time Management Principles for Students
The University of Minnesota Duluth compiled this list of time management strategies for students. Simple and practical.

TimeTracker 
TimeTracker is an online tool to help you track the time you spend on each of your tasks.  It can help keep you on focused - which is helpful when you need to write a lengthy paper.

Time Management [Video] - Randy Pausch
This lecture was recorded at the University of Virginia - and runs over an hour. It’s both informative and entertaining.