Good idea! I've had students from the hard sciences in my classes before, and they've all seemed to enjoy it. They often bring a fresh perspective to the material that enriches classroom discussions. There's no reason an engineer can't be a philosopher as well!
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Resolved What should I get for college?
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Good idea! I've had students from the hard sciences in my classes before, and they've all seemed to enjoy it. They often bring a fresh perspective to the material that enriches classroom discussions. There's no reason an engineer can't be a philosopher as well!
I'm in class (being distracted by my computer!) so I'll write more later, but I just wanted to send you this to see if it'd help you at all as I couldn't find many mac editions (in the price range I was interested in!)
http://techenvy.com/hack/mac-osx-drivers-for-windows-scansnap
It allows you to, with any model, use a pc version on a mac (so it says) I'd be interested in knowing if it works!
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Wow. You just saved me a couple of hundred dollars. Thanks! I will give this a try. My respect for Fujitsu has now plummeted, though. I had thought it was some kind of weird technical deal that required two devices when it first came out. Now I see they just have awful after sale support, or they are trying to scam their customers. Sad stuff. The ScanSnap is a great device, though, so I guess I ought to just be glad they made it.
I don't see why not. I'd be interested to hear what people say.
EBOOKS / PDFS
As far as the digital storage of as many texts as possible, there is no downside that I can see.
NOTETAKING APPS
Notetaking software like VoodooPad is more of a personal preference. I still use Evernote for some stuff, and I tried really hard to make it my main notetaking app. I think if I were in a different line of work, I could have done it. Ultimately, though, it failed to meet my needs.
EREADERS / TABLETS
I don't think anyone would complain about having all of their books in the palm of their hand. However, it really works best for linear reading (some humanities) and not so much for non-linear reading (some hard sciences). In other words, you can't flip back and forth through an ebook as easily as you can with paper. You can only view one page at a time, so footnotes, endnotes, glossaries, and other things become a pain. I have the Kindle DX, so I can get two pages at once. Maybe, if you had a 27"iMac you could get three pages at once. It's a small price to pay (in my opinion) for the convenience.
HANDWRITTEN NOTES
This is personal preference. It is obviously less efficient than just typing everything in directly. But, I think the learning process for every endeavor can benefit from multiple strategies, so it can't hurt either. For me, the process of recording, re-writing, re-interpreting, re-viewing, and re-organizing help me to internalize ideas and information. I really despise cramming, because it cheats you out of a chance to really learn the information, and it is painful. It takes more discipline to revisit material, but is far more effective over the long term to come back to it again and again from different perspectives. That sounds like something that would work in any discipline, right?
ORGANIZATION
The method I use is a modified version of Noguchi Yukio's famous (in Japan) organizational system for filing papers. The guy didn't have a terribly clear system for computers (at least in the books I read), so I had to tinker with it. I've been using it (the system I mentioned earlier) for about a decade now, and it works great for me. I know some people who cannot stand the thought of dumping everything into one folder and really want to organize things into endless hierarchies of folders. I can see the merits of that, but I tried that for a while when I ran a small business, and I dreaded all of the filing. Now that I have used my system for a while, I figure that there isn't any reason why it wouldn't work for any field.
Hi. The OP asked about how I stay organized, so I made a thread about it in another MacRumor forum. Screen shots included 
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=12580806#post12580806
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=12580806#post12580806
I'm still trying to figure out how you scan textbooks on the scansnap (snapscan?) you have, it holds 10 pages at a time! Rather, forgetting the speed, how you scan textbooks at all!
Combat, you asked me before if I was able to draw diagrams: No, but I'm not in any classes that need it. As for when I did, I had a system of handwriting similar to palpatine's, but I used a livescribe pen and notebook paper (same idea, different implementation)
Combat, you asked me before if I was able to draw diagrams: No, but I'm not in any classes that need it. As for when I did, I had a system of handwriting similar to palpatine's, but I used a livescribe pen and notebook paper (same idea, different implementation)
HA! Just saw this, and if the illuminati isn't after you, then you must be on the wrong track
I suggest, as a companion piece to The DaVinci Code. The American Dad episode, Black Mystery Month. You think you know the history of peanut butter? You have no idea!
Id check out a 13" MBP with 320m Graphics. You can find them at great prices online, and youll be glad for the 320m in contrast to the SB IGP(Since you mentioned casual gaming)....plus you get a faster CPU over the MBA + user upgradable RAM + Backlit Keyboard... All Big pluses IMHO.
With the money you save, you could get yourself a great SSD and have your cake and eat it too Cheers mate
With the money you save, you could get yourself a great SSD and have your cake and eat it too
Cheers matepalpatine:
any chance you could check that method I posted about using the scan snap on a mac? I plan on pulling the trigger on one if it works!
combat:
Livescribe is a computer pen that tracks your writing using special dotted notebook paper, its actually pretty cool (even if you only use it for diagrams). Everything you write on the paper, appears exactly as you wrote it, as if it were scanned in. I have seen em at pawn shops for $30 before, but obviously that varies by location!
any chance you could check that method I posted about using the scan snap on a mac? I plan on pulling the trigger on one if it works!
combat:
Livescribe is a computer pen that tracks your writing using special dotted notebook paper, its actually pretty cool (even if you only use it for diagrams). Everything you write on the paper, appears exactly as you wrote it, as if it were scanned in. I have seen em at pawn shops for $30 before, but obviously that varies by location!
What you do is not even close to research... Your sources are mostly biased and your weighting functions do not match.
As far as I can tell...as a college student you will need a library, a desk and pen and paper for studies at home and notes during classes. Sometimes a calculator comes in handy.
I have been out of college for 28 years but some thoughts -
Contact the college to find out what internet services are provided on campus. Wired (where) and is wi/fi available.
Is there an internet policy or FAQ sheet that you should review.
Does student services have a recommendation on hardware needs.
Then I would make every effort to find a few students on campus to find out what they use on campus - what works and what does not.
Why re-invent the wheel.
Good luck - get a good job - I will be counting on your social security payments in about 12 years
Contact the college to find out what internet services are provided on campus. Wired (where) and is wi/fi available.
Is there an internet policy or FAQ sheet that you should review.
Does student services have a recommendation on hardware needs.
Then I would make every effort to find a few students on campus to find out what they use on campus - what works and what does not.
Why re-invent the wheel.
Good luck - get a good job - I will be counting on your social security payments in about 12 years
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Random thought in my head. Feels like wanting to get a high end 13". Or a base 15". But there's a huge price difference. Might as well get the base 13". Not much difference in performance anyway.
15" screen. Discrete GPU. High res+matte option. *Drools*. Wait, what?
Weighs 0.5 pounds more than the 13". Damn thats heavy.
Guys, any thoughts?
15" screen. Discrete GPU. High res+matte option. *Drools*. Wait, what?
Weighs 0.5 pounds more than the 13". Damn thats heavy.
Guys, any thoughts?
I'm not challenging you on this but how are you supposed to scan textbooks? All of mine are at least 1000 pages and how are you supposed to get them into the autofeeder?
THANKS A LOT!
I finally got around to trying the workaround. I am happy to say it was successful. It wasn't terribly easy. But, that might be due to my inexperience with Macs. Like I said, you saved me several hundred dollars.
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No worries. I am pretty confident about the method, because I use it on a daily basis
Ideally, use an office scanner. The big ones that make copies really fast also make scans quickly too. Ask around at your school for a copy machine that will produce PDF files. Kinkos or a place like that probably has the same capability.
Scansnap is great too. It is slower, of course. There is a workaround if you happen to have the PC version of the Fujitsu Scansnap (S300).
https://forums.macrumors.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=12639034
(Thanks JesseW6889 for the link).
For the best scans you want to rip off the spine, trim the pages, and run them through the auto feeder. Of course, the downside is that you have to destroy the book in the process. It's also a pain
I generally lay the book flat on the scanning bed. If you are planning to read it on an iPad, scan two pages at a time. If you are planning to read on a Kindle, scan one page at a time.
I usually select B+W at 600 dpi. However, if the margins are too narrow and characters in the center don't come through very clearly, if there are lots of colors, or the print quality is poor, I select gray scale at 600 dpi.
Great thread.
It's making me think if an iPad 2 16GB would be good for storing ebooks. After seeing iOS 5 with its Wireless Syncing and etc, its made me think the iPad can finally stand on its own. So its tempting now.
I know i could use the iphone, but to be honest, i'm sure that after a while, it'd hurt the eyes at a 3 inch screen.
It's making me think if an iPad 2 16GB would be good for storing ebooks. After seeing iOS 5 with its Wireless Syncing and etc, its made me think the iPad can finally stand on its own. So its tempting now.
I know i could use the iphone, but to be honest, i'm sure that after a while, it'd hurt the eyes at a 3 inch screen.
There may still be an iTunes University group of podcasts from the University of Irvine School of Medicine, showing how they were Implementing the iPad for textbooks, lecture material and other course work. Very informative stuff, and I can only see iOS 5 making things better.
I use my iPad for ebooks and work related PDF files. Much better than using an iPhone.
Which laptop to buy?
I have the option to buy an 07 MacBook for $700 vs. A new MacBook pro for $1300.
The MacBook is in great quality, has Microsoft office, and other perks added as well.
I'm having troubles deciding what would be a better buy. I'd rather save the $600 but would want the best buy, any help would be great!! Thanks!!
Justin
I have the option to buy an 07 MacBook for $700 vs. A new MacBook pro for $1300.
The MacBook is in great quality, has Microsoft office, and other perks added as well.
I'm having troubles deciding what would be a better buy. I'd rather save the $600 but would want the best buy, any help would be great!! Thanks!!
Justin
You're stuck with what you get in the MBA. There is no option to upgrade hard drive, or RAM. With the MBP, you can upgrade stuff and keep it running for a little while longer. Personally, I have the MBP 13" 2011. I will be a sophomore in college next semester.
Much like yourself, I too was juggling the option between MBA and MBP. I went with a MBP because I'm an engineering student. As such, we have to use more CPU intensive programs and such. I didn't think the MBA could take it.
Believe me, you won't even feel the MBP in your backpack. It's really light and I've never had an issue with it.
As far as the iPhone goes, I have no idea man. I'm still rockin' flip-phone status cause I beat the hell out of every cellphone I've ever owned