HP Freshman 15: Details
Many of you have been asking about the HP Freshman 15 laptop giveaway College Being and a bunch of other college blogs are partaking in. Our contest starts today and here are the details:
The Laptop
The lucky winner of this contest will win a new HP Pavilion dv7t series notebook along with a bunch of extra goodies including the HP xb4 Media Docking Station and a super-cool and eco-friendly laptop carrying case. The whole prize package is valued at about $1,700. Expect a review of the system coming in the next couple of days, but so far I’ve heard it has it’s own number pad. Seriously, a laptop with a number pad already makes me salivate.
How to Enter
There are three different ways to enter and you can enter through all three ways to increase your chances of winning:
1) You will get one entry into the contest by posting a real (or non-real and funny) reason why you should get the laptop in the comments below.
2) You will get one entry into the contest by posting a comment below about something that can be improved here at College Being to make your experience better.
3) You will get three entries into the contest by submitting an entry into our new Hot College Being of the Month. Both men and women are able to submit an entry. Just click on the link for the full rules.
The Rules
The rules are as follows:
You are allowed to enter up to five entries into the contest. You can mix and match from the above list.
You must use your real name and email address when entering.
The last day to submit an entry into the contest is Sunday, October 12 at 11:59 PM ET.
This competition is open to everybody on earth.
The Winner
The three finalists will be chosen randomly from all valid entries. The first of the three to post a comment on the announcement post will win the laptop. The finalists will be announced on Monday, October 13th.
So, to sum it all up: If you want the laptop, you have a great chance to get it. You can submit up to five entries and get to the announcement post before the other two finalists. Not a bad day’s work for a $1,700 prize.
Note from editor: Please do not write your email addresses in the body comments below as spammers may find your email and add you to their evil spam lists. Just put your email address in email field and you will be safe (from spammers and for us to be able to reach you).
Note from editor: Review of laptop here.
The fate of the world depends on me getting this laptop. I must have it. I have seen the future and it’s a bleak place. Only this laptop can save the future!
Your layout is too plain. Do a little more with some of the white space. That’s my advice. Thanks.
Nice! If I win I’ll hook it up to my media center in the making.
Nice contest you have going on here. I believe I should get the the laptop (THE GRAND PRIZE) because my current laptop has a few glitches. I am tired of finding little problems as I continue to have ownership of it. I had to get a major repair (in my perspective) on my laptop two months ago. I wished do let this be a person laptop and the other one that I am entering to win to be for school. Chances are that I will be able to use this for personal and the other for school.
Also, I always wanted a different laptop since this seems to be falling apart and they have other laptops that are coming about, but I can’t afford to get another one. I love using computers and the advancement of technology. This is why I think I should get the HP grand prize.
Why should I get the laptop? So I can ebay it for stripper money.
I really need a labtop because my old one is dieing and its just a pain being in information technology without a reliable labtop.
My email address is [email address removed by editor]
Far as my second entry, I think that the white space could be removed and use another template with more colors. Making College Being seem more organized and user friendly will work. I think having more articles and tips and links to other helpful places that college students will use will be benefit me and all others. Links to other applications and news we can use will help my experience on this site. It’s about the appearance, content, what you offer to readers, and getting their attention.
I need the laptop so my friends stop making fun of me for having a desktop.
As for College Being, I love the posts and everything so I would recommend extending the body width a little wider and consolidate all the other stuff on the side into one column. Just helps the aesthetic appeal of the site in my opinion.
If this laptop gets into the wrong hands, who KNOWS what kind of evil and destruction awaits the universe? That’s why I should be the rightful keeper of the HP laptop!
And a way to make college being better may be to have a forum or guest bloggers by actual college students. To make it seem like not only are we college beings but we are a COMMUNITY of college beings. That’d be bangin’.
And I believe I have my 5 entries now. XP
You stole my idea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111111111111111111
I currently have a laptop without functioning wireless and that believes in restarting without warning. I’d love one that works.
I’d like a laptop that’s not two years old and trying to crash and burn already.
I need a laptop so that I’m not shackled to my slowly dying 4yo desktop ….
Because I deserve it! (Also, my last name is Anderson.)
You should expand the section on how not to get busted by the police. That might expand your site into more of a legal site than a college site, but it might save a lost of grief for a lot of people.
Website suggestions:
I noticed that categories are used to group postings, but no listing of categories. The only way to see categories is to click the category of a visible posting. Also, when view a posting, the category is not posted anywhere.
Also, I think that the by-lines should like to the authors. I know that the author listing is close by on the right column, but the by-line is another obvious place to look for more information about the author.
Non-real and funny reason coming later.
Richard.
Why do I want the laptop, because when I get it, ill finally be able to burn this piece of crap im currently on.
(1) The reason I should be awarded the grand prize -drool- is because college is right around the corner, money’s tight, and I have not had pleasure of owning a laptop yet.
(2) As for this website, I do think it’s quite bland. It’s really easy for readers to come and then forget about this site. Also, the bottom of the header where the blue abruptly blurs to the white isn’t too eye-appealing. Overall, the layout is nicely spaced and clean, but implementing an interesting and attractive color scheme would make the website look much better.
There are also some widgets/modules on this theme. Rearranging them might help such that the left sidebar follows this order: Google ads, Fun Stories, CB Authors, and User. The right sidebar is fine. The search bar that’s currently sandwiched between your Google ads and User login should be moved to the top so users will know where to go when they’re searching for something.
I base my advice of the module rearrangement on the fact that readers are guided by whatever is at the top and then wander down to the bottom.
Anyway, I’m sorry if I was so long-winded. This is just my two-cents on the topic. :)
I’m holding my brother’s laptop hostage and I refuse to return it until I get my own (or win this one).
*insert evil laugh here*
I need the laptop to add to my army of boxen. You can improve the site by adding some left and right margin space. Also, you could replace the gradient under the header with something else.
1)I need this laptop because the IBM T30 I have is 5 years old, the processor fan is starting to die (it refuses to boot sometimes, solves by a light smack), and both of the batteries I have last about an hour and a half, which really sucks when I have to type notes during my 2 hour class. The laptop barely runs Vista, and with only 16MB of video ram, it doesn’t do any sort of gaming.
2)The website is pretty simple, however there are 2 things I don’t like: the first is the 2 column navigation on the side, it seems a little bit cluttered, second, the fixed width is a major waste of space on a large monitor, and with a fluid width, the 2 column navigation probably wouldn’t look bad at all.
3) has been emailed.
My wife’s current laptop is quite old. I’d like to give her a nice new one with better performance, but I just can’t afford it right now. As a tech-geek it is embarrassing to have underpowered hardware in regular use in the house.
Besides, our 5th anniversary is next week and I haven’t got any fabulous gifts yet.
(1) my roommate already destroyed my laptop, “accidentally” (aka drunk) knocking a bottle of water onto my laptop. fried!
(2) a list of the top 10 (20? 30? 100?) things i need to do before leaving college. like wake up drunk in the street? have a 3some?
The design is clean and uncluttered, but the footer is …missing…a lot of your links could go down there. The footer is a vast un-mined resource of linkage these days. Not everything has to go above the fold.
2leaf (although they have nice sites) isn’t collegebeing. Why is their link block higher than the top articles box?
Because such things are mostly aesthetic, I’ll leave the brainstorming of details to you…but the blog format needs to be … I dunno…sexier for a site like this. It seems bland (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
I want the laptop so I can watch my slingbox wherever I am. Love your blog btw ;)
I think you should add a twitter feed to your blog. Everyone’s doing it!!!
I need the laptop because I don’t have cable in the new place I’m renting, so I watch all my tv online, and my current computer isn’t doing too well…it’s constantly slow, especially if I try to unplug it. Another problem while watching tv on my current laptop is that my screen is floppy and won’t stay in one place which gets really really annoying.
It’s super cool that the HP has a number pad! I was just typing in a bunch of numbers today and wished that I had a number pad. That would be a huge bonus!
Why I Should Get the Laptop:
Because I need one, and if I don’t get a free one I will wind up buying a Mac.
What Could be Improved:
I largely agree with a post prior to my own. The side navigation seems cluttered, and the fixed-width column wastes a lot of space on wider monitors.
My suggestion for improvement is to have a list of popular posts. I’m new to your blog, actually found it because of the freshman 15 giveaway, so now I’m a subscriber. It would be great to have the list of popular posts so that I could quickly get an overview of the blog. Love the blog so far, though.
1) I need to replace my clunky desktop because I am sick with the flu & the cord doesn’t reach to the bathroom.
2) The color scheme is a bit difficult to read (grey on white). Perhaps a darker theme would be nice…
I’ed like a laptop that is not my 10 year old dual pentuim 2 server-ish desktop … I commute and taking this thing to school is definitly not an option since it weighs a ton and is huge also last i checked it was worth a bout $20 X.x
the only laptop i have right now is a 486 from the early 90’s and the floppy drive doesn’t even work….
here is my suggestion for the site:
It would be nice if users of this site could select their own personal css theme from a list which would probably please just about everybody as far as the looks of this site. Many web forums already allow users to do this.
I need a laptop to eat! I earn a little on blogging, and I spend them to eat with my siblings. ^_^
I need the laptop prize package to give to my BF to ebay and put the money into an engagement ring fund…yeah I know.
And I think that RSS button is obscenely and unnecessarily huge. For your sighted readers, you could make it somewhat smaller.
Entry One: Hey, It would be nice for me to win the laptop, because My desktop is an old Dell 2400 from 2002, and keeps pulling all type of odd things on me, its past the point of updating RAM and adding accessories. Also, I commute daily to NYC from NJ(about 2 hours), and I am limited to study either at the library, or at my dusty desktop computer at home. Winning this HP laptop would allow me to study on the bus ride home, or even in Central Park!
Entry Two: The website holds great amount of knowledge. One way you could fix it, is to make just one column on the right holding the ads and the categories instead of two. Also having a quick link to what you believe are your best and most known posts so that newbies can see them, allowing for easier convincing that this site ROCKS! One more thought, if you don’t think its too much, you can add in the right column(or one of them since you now have two) the recent comments that have been added. The site can be better visually, and it is already very pleasant from a mobile computing point. The great thing is that the information in here is fantastic, and that’s what matters everything we are all complaining about here(how rude right!) can most definitely be fixed.
Oh to be able to compute on the move. My laptop has a bum battery…my 4 yr old dell laptop…and thus cannot be unplugged…also I got my hot girlfriend to submit a pic to ur hot college being thing…so thats worth something…
Improvements:
The RSS button doth be gihugean….
Registration and login on the top nav bar…i had to search for it..cater to users expected experience…
Author Avatars could be fun
actually I find the rss button the most entertaining thing on this page MAKE IT BIGGER!
besides all the whitespace this site seems pretty humorless perhaps a system to vote on funny things to place on the page would be in order…. hey the google guys can goof off why not this site?
I am a hard working, peace making mother of three chaotic kids that are forever bugging me for their turn on the computer…winning this would literally bring much peace to my home. When you have a 5, 6 and 15 year old kid fighting over time on the computer…well, it’s enough to make you scream!!!!
Please, you are my only hope at bringing sanity to my already mangled mind. You, Ace are the only one who could save me and bring me back to the mother I should be…..
;)
Count me in!!!!
I really like the simplisity of the sites look, especially the RSS feed button. The only thing I really see wrong is that you don’t offer RSS feed via email. I seldom sign up to feed readers because, well, I easily forget I’m getting them and don’t really go to my feed reader file in my favorites. I think that if you add that option more people will opt in for updates. I know that I would…
Keep up the good work though, it look nice.
Just a clarification on your rules…you say that we need to enter with our real name…do you need my FULL real name or was my real first name ok?
Entry #2:
The content on College Being is interesting, but the white background is a bit bland. Dunno if you guys are interested in changing the color scheme or not though.
Also, I think it may be helpful to have a list of topics on this site placed on the side bar so that more articles can easily be found.
I think I should get the laptop for several reasons. 1) My current laptop (which is
my only computer) has a damaged screen so that a third of it is
useless, the cd drive doesn’t read cds, the wireless refuses to
connect so that it needs a hard LAN cable, and the internal fan is
broken so that the laptop has to be kept next to a rotating fan
whenever I use it. Which really means it’s no longer a laptop, but a
weak and hobbled desktop. I doubt it’ll last another few months. 2)
I’ve cast off the silly liberal arts orientation of the first few
years of college and now study cognitive neuroscience. Specifically,
my job is analyzing brain imaging data (fMRI/EEG), for which you need
a computer (and not a shoddy computer either).
So my job & my homework both require a computer. Getting a laptop
would mean I can occasionally leave my apartment and do some work in
areas in which other human beings roam.
The orange RSS logo needs to be bigger. It doesn’t even take up 30% of the screen, it’s like you don’t WANT us to subscribe!! ;)
An increase in friends is also in order - twelve friends among seven authors? Plug more blogs!
Under the “ESSAY” link, you could include one to the Postmodern Generator:
http://www.elsewhere.org/pomo/
I need the laptop because I have been wanting to get one (but could never afford it) since I started collge…and I graduated from college two years ago with a Bachelors Degree that took five years to get…if that tells you how long I have wanted one…lol.
In fact, I have a degree I can’t use, loans out the wahzoo, I only work part time, and I live with my mom…that’s how low on funds I am. If that doesn’t make me worthy, I don’t know what will. =P
I should get the laptop because I will put a sticker with the College Being logo on the back of it.
I should get the laptop b/c I just spent 20 min trying to think of things to day to enter the contents that wouldn’t bore you. That I failed means I should get it out of pity.
Oh, and on how to improve the website. I think people would be far more likely to look around if there was more color on your webpages. The white is just so sterile. You need some pops of color here and there at least. But other then that, the site is very user friendly. ;D
I should get a laptop because I’m using my mom’s at the moment lol. Yea, pathetic right? My only comp broke down on my 2 months ago so I actually had to go outside! Can you believe it??? I mean there’s a WORLD out there….a whole friken world!! It’s crazy; I met this dude and we had a conversation and we talked about things, but it wasn’t like an online chat…you know, like normal people use? It was an actual conversation, with words and stuff. It was intense. Oh the best part was this big bright thing in the sky, but it was kind of blinding and it burns a lot if it shines on you too much so that wasn’t too good. Anyways, I think I should get a laptop because I need to stay indoors where I’m safe from this world thing.
As far as improvements go, I think there should be more excitement in this thing. I mean I like to get pumped up, you know get excited about reading stuff and watchin vids. If i’m not excited I just kinda, ya know, fall asleep and stuff. But this site rawks though. Seriously, its awesome. I love the whole not vote video.
I need a new laptop because i am tired of coming up with something to do for the thirty minutes my current laptop takes to warmpup after I log into it.
Oh also I should get a laptop because I think I’m a good person and I need to be connected to the world because it is a dire place without the knowledge of my existence. I am not full of pride or arrogance, just truth. I also like to sleep in till 11 and eat toast. I think college is easy so far, but then again I haven’t gone to class yet so that’s probably why. You know some people say I need to do something about all the problems going on in the world today and I say “give me a laptop and I’ll do it.” You’re probably thinking that a guy who wakes up at 11 doesn’t care about stuff. That is not true. It’s not that I don’t care, I’m just lazy. Anyways, in all seriousness I do need a laptop though cuz mine broke so would appreciate it :). hope you didn’t take too much of anything I said too seriously.
For your blog I think you can move the search box and other boxes under it below the RSS button, that would leave enough space for your posts to be at the center.
I need that bad boy to run my CAD software!!
I can harness the power of the docking station to MacGyver a bomb defusing tool to save the free world!
¡Se lo necesito para salvar mi vida!
If I win the laptop, all of your wildest dreams will come true.
Vote for Pedro! Win me that lappy!
If I get that laptop I can harness the wind power from the docking station to power all of Phoenix… or maybe just to cool my knees?
- My computer has no power button. I popped the defunct one out, and so to power up, I just stick a paperclip (insulated with electrical tape) into the gaping hole. This vital paperclip dangles from the computer from a length of leather string. As if my computer wanted to wear tex-mex accessories. I tell friends this is artisan or amish, practical-minded. But I can hear their respect for me, my dignity, dissolving like alka-seltzer. Please….
I should get the laptop, so that I can use it as paperweight.
- If I win the laptop, I will name it “Horacio Perez II”. I will call its name out often. I think it’s a fine name, full of hope. My current (”artisan”) hp is so named, and has lived a full life, through college and now out, hammering out a thesis and moving to Europe and getting a new brain, switching to Open Office and not really writing anymore, mostly trolling the internet for dearly-missed American television.
- If you change one thing about the website, well go ahead and change two:
1. As -yes- has been said before: COLOR. But it’s easy just to say that…let’s look at some nice palettes. I wonder, have you considered incorporating pistachio? A pleasing green, hailed by Feng shui masters and really everybody as a soothing color. Prime for frazzled college beings. And pistachio, as far as I know, is the official color of no real university. Perfect- take up a flag of your own!
2. And I say FUSE into one column: Google ads/ Search/ User sign-in/ Authors/ Fun stories/ RSS/ etc… altogether slicker, and just imagine scrolling down to get the electric orange shock of your massive RSS.
But C. David Dent sums it up best: make it sexier, however you go.
I should definitely win this because my old laptop’s screen is out and I now can only use my husband’s laptop when he’s not using it :(
The reason why i am entering in this notebook competitions is that i am a need a laptop for myself badly and i don’t have he finances to buy one anytime soon. I will be starting my final year project next year for which i require a powerful machine. I am a petroleum engineer student and my project will be based on reservoir simulation. My current pc doesn’t allow me to handle that kind of a work. Therefore I am banking on you (and the rest of this competition giveaway) to get a laptop for myself. This project is very important component of my BE degree. Moreover i want to be able to play high graphics games and watch HD movies. As i have mentioned earlier my current desktop pc has limited features.
As far as your blog layout is concerned. I have a few suggestions.
* Add some color. A college being should be something exciting(speaking from experience). Add some red or black while keeping the blue.
* Please add some images, videos and other graphic content. This should be my first suggestion.
* Go for a web 2.0 style template. This will give your blog a professional and neat look while improving the appearance of your blog.
* Use the space more efficiently. I feel that your best content is not highlighted as much it should be. Use the space below the header graphic. You can also use the footer. You can divide the header or footer into 3 or columns to make it look organized.
* Use a darker font. Please use black instead of grey.
I hope this helps
Entry 2: As for your site, the content and all is okay. But it could have a much nicer template or overall design. I also prefer reading posts that are in the middle of the page inside of to the left. Thanks!
I need a laptop because, I NEED ONE!! So then I can work on my stuffs easier and I can download whatever I want.
I need this laptop because my old one never works right. It always freezes, it takes forever to boot up. I end up shutting it off and never get anything done. Thanks!
My 2nd entry.
Please refer to the blog layout improvement suggestions from my 1st entry.
Moreover having gone through your blog, I would like to suggest doing some more stuff like college reviews , student issues, student loans and scholarship awards, advice for new college students, get together ideas, college sports etc. In short i want to see content focused on college beings while limiting the rambling about politics and economy and other things. I hope i am not being over critical!
The reason why i deserve that HP laptop:
Firstly, I don’t know how to prove my worthiness, and you have every reason to not buy my reasoning, but it’s the honest truth anyway:
My laptop just got stolen.
it’s that simple
just 2 days ago, as a matter of fact. Some thieves climb into my balcony and took my laptop through the open window (yeah, my fault, I should have closed it), along with some of my neighbor’s mobile phones that he stole earlier.
so now, I, a computer student major in programming and system analysis, have no laptop to study. Not to mention all the data and study notes I saved in my hard disks.
in other words, I’m kinda screwed now. sure, I would just ask my parents to buy me a new and better one, but a laptop, new or old, is never cheap, and I hate to put such a weight on my parents’ shoulders, considering they’re already paying for my college tuition.
So you can see why I consider this contest a God-given, one-in-a-lifetime chance to save me from the mess that I’m suffering (my semester just started and having to learn about computers without one to practice on is quite a daunting task).
I hope my reason is good enough, thank you
I want this just cause free stuff is awesome. This is almost as good as getting T-Shirts for donating blood.
It would be the most amazing miracle if i could actually win this laptop, I would be absolutely over the moon!
My second entry:
1) the design: use more recognizable colors, white and occasional blue is clean but so bland. make the rss button smaller, move the login area upper, maybe even to the top. instead of wasting space for the “fun stories” section, add a section for “hot posts” or “hight-lighted posts). there should be “related links” under each posts. and of course the fixed width thing.
2) the content: almost perfect, though i hope you’ll focus more on the financial side of not-that-rich students. oh and ilove your funny posts, more of those pls.
Why do I need a new laptop? Me and the blue screen of death are totally buds. Not so good when trying to finish my dissertation!
Entry one
I have only a few suggestions for the blog. Suggestion 1—– A few articles for the untraditional older student.You know us …were the 35yrs and older crowd. See us waving at you from the back of the room? Suggestion 2—- I would move the look of the blog to web 2.0 style..nice colors.. categories to find articles.. a lil elbow grease and you’ll have this place looking like a million bucks.
I should get the laptop because once i have it, I can sit downstairs and work/study on the couch while my wife does yoga and works out in the nude 4 feet in front of me. Can there truly be a higher use of a laptop?
Hmm…does this prize pack come with a webcam?
Advice to the site? that’s tough cause it is pretty good. I do think the white space is a little much, not at the top of the page, it works as great balance there, and too much background would be a problem with all the great info here.
Perhaps you could use the pictures from the hot college being contest to give us something to look at on the bottom and sides of the page?
Advice to the site? that’s tough cause it is pretty good. I do think the white space is a little much, not at the top of the page, it works as great balance there, and too much background would be a problem with all the great info here. (And contrary to many of the others, I really like the heading you have now. Very relaxed and unobtrusive. They probably really like those silly, annoying flash games, too.)
Perhaps you could use the pictures from the hot college being contest to give us something to look at on the bottom and sides of the page?
The other advice I would give would basically be agreeing with someone else, but to be fair, I had the idea before seeing their post.
It would be very, very cool to have actual readers doing guest blogging. We wouldn’t restrict that to /just/ English majors, would we?
I need this laptop becaue I am a broke computer science major without a laptop or even a personal PC of my own.
As for how I can improve the site, I think you guys need to spice up the theme. Its too bland(too much white space)
And, my other very important reason that I should have this is because my children miss me…
Yes, it’s sad I know, but I must spend hours a day working on French compositions, or reading pieces written in Early American Realism. They waste away downstairs playing video games and “Where’s Daddy?”
With a laptop, I could spend time with them! I could research Contemporary Social Problems while sitting on the couch near them. I could even.. oh, dare I say it? they could go outside!!! We could go to the park and climb trees. While they hang upside down on one branch, I can sit on the next one, filling out short essay answers to Freund’s Quadratic Equation.
I would be free of my desk and my children would have a father again! we could bake cookies together with the laptop on the stove (oh, no, wait that would be a bad idea.) on the counter /beside/ the stove! we could even play dress up! my son would be a pirate, my daughter the noble princess he has kidnapped, and I would be the cyborg, sent from the future with a laptop attached to my body to save her!!
Yes, yes, the children are the future and I MUST have that laptop!!!
I would like the laptop because my current laptop consistently overheats when I use it! Also, it’s a Mac, and as an engineering student, I’m discovering that a PC would have been a much more practical choice. Sometimes I can’t run software I need for my classes!
I would like the laptop because my current laptop consistently overheats when I use it! Also, it’s a Mac, and as an engineering student, I’m discovering that a PC would have been a much more practical choice. Sometimes I can’t run software I need for my classes!
As far as recommendations for the site… I think it looks pretty good, but if you can combine the 2 columns on the right side into 1, it might look a little more streamlined.
Since this contest is part of this site, my suggestion for improvement of this contest counts an entry.
I find it interesting that while the finalists chosen at random, which prize they get is dependent on the order of them posting. It may seem like using posting order as a fair way to select a winner from finalists, but it isn’t. What really happens is the chances of winning shifts wildly in favor of the the earliest posters. For instance, the first few posters will have 3 times the chance of winning versus in a random only drawing while the last few posters would get practically zero chance. (In fact, the last two poster do have zero chance. This assumes everyone has the same number of entries.)
Instead of doing a random drawing then posting order, either go straight random drawing or pick some other criteria for winning the laptop. This would be fairer for everyone involved.
Take note, I did post pretty early on, so I the current method would already give me a boost. If the method is changed to random only, I would have less chance to win, not more.
See the link below for more details. Some math involved, so enter at your own risk.
http://unbrokenbottle.blogspot.....eaway.html
Ok, here’s another suggestion for improving your website. I’ve noticed there’s been some problems that affects your Internet connection. I’ve been getting timeouts and page not found about half the time I check this page. This site could do with some more bandwidth on your end.
I’m thinking these page problems might be the result of this competition, since you are taking the audience from 15 blogs instead of just your own. Waiting until after contest to check how much regular traffic is coming to your site might be the best way to do it.
But remember, it only takes one link to your article on a popular site to bring a lot of traffic to your site, and at times like that you want your site to be up.
Richard.
In case you don’t have bandwidth problems, it’s all on my end, or something else entirely, disregard my comment, and sorry for wasting your time.
I need a new laptop because I spilled a can of Red Bull on my keyboard, and the cost of the repair is more than the value of my laptop.
I suggest that you move the Login box to less prominent place (It takes up some of the most useful space on the page.
Consider adding a Recent Posts list (by month). This could be used by somebody who wants to easily go through the old posts without subscribing via RSS (I know… RSS supports this easily). Thanks. Interesting site.
I go to Ohio University…which is in the top 3, i believe this year it is the top, party school. I need this laptop for 2 reasons-
1. I don’t have a laptop yet and I have to walk to the library almost every day to write my papers/presentations.
2. I need to get my studying done quicker so I can fully enjoy going to the number 1 party school.
I have no laptop of my own. I am currently using my suitmates, which, while nice, it has a restriction so that I cannot install any programs. this prevents me from making full use of all the awesome programs out there–that is–limewire :)
-S.M.H
I really only have 1 suggestion for the site…make it a little easier to navigate. I have a hard to finding a specific article because they are end to end in a single column. Perhaps use an approach of just posting the main title of an article and a quick summary…perhaps a pertaining photo….it would make it easier to make sense of what someone is looking at.
My second entry into the contest:
What would improve my experience from college being would be to imply what this the objective of this website’s function is. When I goto sites like hack college, study hacks, and cooking for engineers, they each have clear indications of what they exist for. Hence, when I go there I am reminded of what I am looking for. But when I come to college being, it appears to me to just be another random blog, not this awesome archive of prudent wisdom about how to thrive at college. Which, I think, college being is. As mentioned before, clear and distinct catagories would help.
Thanks for the chance to enter.
S.M.H
Another reason I should have the laptop is to see if HP has improved their products. The last HP I had literally went up in flames during an overclocking experiment.
more laptops = more screen screen space
Another reason for another laptop is to have another operating system.
Lastly, I want the laptop just so I can win something for once. Cheers!
Why do I want a laptop? Its better for the environment…a laptop uses 76% less energy than a desktop. So along with not wearing any clothes to save on the air conditioning , I’m saving lots money which be could be used for more important things like gas, food or maybe some gosh - darn pretty pink pencils for school. Don’t ya know? ;)
With response to the entry requirements I have a funny (and very cool) story that me and my roommates did our senior year of college. A little background: we went to an engineering school that required all freshmen students to purchase laptops through the IT Dept. Part of the “benefits” of that was having 100% replacement insurance for our laptops if anything ever went wrong.
So fast forward to senior year…
By now our laptops are approaching 3.5 years old and getting pretty shotty to say the least. Being Civil Engineering students we had access to some of the labs on our own; one particular lab had a very powerful vibrating table (3-ft x 3-ft) that was used for materials lab.
To get to the point, I came up with the brilliant idea to place our powered-up laptops on this vibrating table at full force. Six of us decided we were going to do this so all of us made sure we transfered all our files onto external hard drive—well, all except one (he didn’t get that memo). Anyways after a total of 5 weeks, and 5 laptop demolitions, we each had brand new laptops before we left school.
In case you are wondering, most of the laptops just a high pitch screeching sound with lots of rattling while the keys were popping off the keypad. One laptop even had the screen shatter. We have some of them on video but I can’t find it :( And the roommate who forgot to back up his stuff had lots of files and data lost for his senior engineering design project.
On a serious note, that same new laptop that I received was just damaged in a recent move about 3 months ago so I am in need of a new one yet again.
i would like to win this because the laptop that i have right now is very very very slow and it might have been dropped a couple of times, i swear not by me.
um…this website’s pretty cool already but i suppose a little color wouldn’t ruin it : )
I need the new laptop for world domination.
I should win this laptop because I have lots of school work and it be nice to do it all in the comfort of my own home, plus I’ve haven’t had the pleasure of owning one of those sweet things.
I need this laptop so that I can finally rule the world!!!
This website could sure use a little color. I suggest changing the layout to something more exiting!!!!
I should win this laptop because I never won anything in my life!!!!
I feel that I should get the free laptop because I have worked hard all my life, AND IT HASNT PAID OFF YET BECUASE I CAN’