If you’re in college or use Facebook at all, you’ve probably mastered the “stick-the-arm-out self photo” pose (example here). There is now a camera to aid you in these types of photos. The new Samsung DualView TL225 camera has LCD displays on the back and front to allow for easy self portraits. It’s going for $350 online.

Facebookers rejoice.

According to research by Melbourne, taking a break during work and playfully browsing the internet improves your productivity.

The University of Melbourne study showed that people who use the Internet for personal reasons at work are about 9 percent more productive that those who do not.

Short and unobtrusive breaks, such as a quick surf of the Internet, enables the mind to rest itself, leading to a higher total net concentration for a days’ work, and as a result, increased productivity,” he said.

So as it turns out…. Facebook is good for you! Go ahead, take a break, waste some time; and become productive.

Facebook, YouTube at Work Make Better Employees: Study – WIRED

Do you use Twitter? It seems like more and more “regular people” (people beside the silicon valley technorati) are using it. The great thing about twitter is that it does not have the limitations of being a Facebook status. Users of the free service can use it in whatever way they wish. There are people who post humorous comments, news stories, deep thoughts, Facebook-status-like updates, and even people who write novels on twitter.

I’ve found that an increasing number of my friends (and even professors) are using twitter. The University has even embraced it: @Illinois_Alma, @Illini_Score.

What are your favorite Illinois twitter accounts to follow? Feel free to follow me for miscellaneous banter and Illinois news @GavinR.

Update: Facebook went back to the old Terms of Service temporarily, claiming they will create a better, new version in the future.

Does Facebook own all content you have on Facebook forever? They recently modified their Terms of Service to say just that:

You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof.

They have responded, saying You Own Your Own Information, but when the Terms of Service clearly states that Facebook actually owns it, who are we to believe? The blog post or the official legal document?

More details:
The Consumerist: Facebook’s New Terms Of Service: “We Can Do Anything We Want With Your Content. Forever.”
The Consumerist: Facebook Clarifies Terms Of Service: “We Do Not Own Your Stuff Forever”

We are pleased to announce the official fan page of The Quad on Facebook.

The page features “The Wall” where you can share your comments about The Quad. Also, all of our articles will be actomatically published into the page’s “Notes” section.

Please check it out, become a fan, and share it with your friends.

We have one week left before the 2009 spring semester begins. This seems like a good time to make sure you have those textbooks ready for class. Or does it?

The usefulness of textbooks varies greatly throughout the classes at UI. Some require a book to be brought to class every day, some require no book at all, and many offer an optional book for extra help. As reported in The Quad’s ‘Required’ College Textbooks article, it may be a good idea to wait until the first week of class to see whether or not you want to buy a book. From experience, however, we all know that going to a bookstore during the first couple weeks of class is horrendous. Depending on your study habits and your schedule, you may want to buy those books sooner than later.

While you are boring yourself over Facebook this week, why don’t you do a little research into those textbooks?

The first thing you need to do is determine what books you need for your class. Go to either TIS, eFolletts, or Illini Union Bookstore and search for your class. Book information for each class should be available, if not, the professor has yet to submit the information. Each of these bookstores will offer their price to the new and used version of your books. You can follow their website and reserve, purchase, and have your books delivered. However, it is often much cheaper to use a different source as mentioned in The Quad’s Best place to buy textbooks article.

Amazon.com, Half.com, and Illini Book Exchange are great sources for buying and selling textbooks. All of these websites allow you to search by ISBN and find the book you are looking for. Amazon and Half will ship the book to your door where IBX requires a face-to-face money/book exchange. You may also want to check out the Facebook marketplace. I encourage you to check out all of these options and settle on the best deal, at least, that’s what I usually do

Good luck and please share any book selling/buying stories!

The beginning of the semester is a great time to do some refreshing. Now that you’ve set some 2009 goals, it’s time to help establish that “new you.” As you are waiting for school to begin, you are bound to get bored. Since I cannot convince you to clean your room, just stay on the computer. Your digital profile is going to need a face lift. Follow the following tips to help you get that much needed restart.

• Resume – A new semester is a great time to update your resume. Add your new GPA. List those volunteer projects. Describe all that work you did last semester. If you really want to, go to the Career Center for FREE resume help.
• Facebook – Watch any good movies over break? Read any new books? Update your personal info to give your friends your most recent information. Upload those pictures from the basketball game you never got around to.
• AlwaysIllinois – Remember this? There have been a lot of updates since the last time you logged in. Check it out. Update your profile with your new resume and contact information. Add a new friend.
• Log on to the UI Self-Integrate service and update your contact information, or at least your spring semester mailing address. You’re gonna want to get that expulsion notice before it arrives at your house.
• Input your information in the UI Emergency Message System. It’s easy to do, and you’ll thank me later.
• Oh yeah, and subscribe to The Quad’s RSS feed. Scroll down and look to the right for the link.

Interesting Facebook group:
Overheard at University of Illinois

Apparently these groups are fairly common. A quick search of “Overheard” on Facebook turns up more than 500 group results – including “Overheard at Vanderbilt” with 3000 members. The University of Illinois version seems to be about the second most popular with almost 2000 members. Very interesting way to waste some time.