Loan Basics 101: How much are you paying in interest?

It's good to know how much you'll be paying in interest on fixed rate loans. The amortization calculator is the answer. The calculator is especially useful for car loans, mortgages and student loans as it can show you the breakdown of your payment (i.e., how much is being credited to interest and principle).
The cost of borrowing is sobering, but necessary. Remember all of the interest you pay means extra hours in the office or on the screen. I hope you find the new info interesting...

Learn everything with MIT's Opencourseware

Ever wish you'd taken a class that wasn't offered or convenient during your college career? Well MIT has the ultimate answer in that it publishes over 600 courses offered at its posh Boston campus. Want a course in programming or algorithms, check out the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department or the Science and Technology courses. For the record, MIT publishes the syllabus, assignments, exercises, etc., but you would still have to buy the books required to learn the material. Since it is all accessed free, you won't receive credit, but it's all about the knowledge anyway. So get out there and have fun!

How to Study Sites

Here are a few study tips sites for those of you wondering how to study for midterm or final exams:

• Hacking Knowledge: 77 Ways to Learn Faster, Deeper, and Better

• Study guides and strategies

• CalPoly: study guides library
  

Get a lifehack

This one is posted for all students who have too much to do and too little time to do it.

Lifehacker.com is a great resource for anyone who wants to learn about cool new downloads and efficient methods for getting things done (GTD). GTD strategists are obsessed with increasing productivity and eliminating wasted time. Thus, the site always presents interesting tools to help with time management skills and technology tasks.

Learn C++ & Java from the Master

My programming gurus led me to this source a few years back and I heartily recommend the following resource for anyone who wants to learn C++ or Java. Bruce Eckel's "Thinking in ..." series is by far the best resource I've found for someone who wants to learn to think like a programmer.

Check out his site @ http://mindview.net where he gives free PDFs of Thinking In C++ & Thinking in Java

What is Tech Tips & Lifehacks?

This is Dr. Bowser's way of posting links and reviews of cool downloads, productivity tools, tech gadgets/news. By trade I am a philosopher and teach @ the college level. I also design networks for education and small business clients. Thus, the tech recommendations herein come from friends, students and surfing to find the stuff that can make life more enjoyable and less complex. Enjoy...