This inability to concentrate can make it VERY difficult for me to finish my homework or pay attention when a professor is giving a lecture. While I haven’t figured out how to solve the lecture problem yet, I did discover something recently that has helped me to stay focused while doing my homework. Recently Lifehacker dedicated a post to the benefits of white noise. (No, I’m not talking about this band.)

White noise has many practical uses. Wikipedia’s entry for white noise lists a few:

White noise can be used to disorient individuals prior to interrogation and may be used as part of sensory deprivation techniques. White noise machines are sold as privacy enhancers and sleep aids and to mask tinnitus. White noise CDs, when used with headphones, can aid concentration by blocking out irritating or distracting noises in a person’s environment.

I’ve tried lots of things in my headphones to keep me focused, but so far I haven’t found something that works. If I listen to music that I know, I end up singing along to the lyrics. If I listen to music that I don’t know, I end up getting distracted by the lyrics or melodies. If I listen to ambient no-lyric music, it puts me to sleep. White noise has none of those things, so I’m starting to like it. To compare it to something, it sounds like a TV or radio that’s between stations. Like fuzzy static.

I don’t turn the volume up too loud - just enough to block out any outside noise. It also helps that I found some killer headphones. (Skull Candy Ink’d ear buds. $15 at Target.com)

The Lifehacker post mentioned above suggests three different sources to get your noise on:

1. Mac users: a nifty little free download called Noise from Blackhole Media. (Also includes pink noise for a more colorful anti-social experience.)
2. Everyone: visit SimplyNoise.com for a browser-based solution. (They have also recently added pink noise, and promise to be “adding more great features…”

With Fall semester coming up, give these options a try if you’re having trouble blocking out the world around you for a few minutes of focus.

What are the rest of you doing to stay focused out there?

Share your tips (type quietly please…that guy next to you is trying to study) in the comments.

Park & Ride: I was stoked when I found out that the intercampus shuttle service was still running during the summer semester. This is a set of busses that take students back and forth to the four different ASU campuses. I’ve written about it here before. These aren’t big yellow school busses either. Most of them are coach-style touring busses. With reclining padded seats, air vents above each row (like an airplane), and WiFi Internet access provided by Verizon, the shuttle is a great way to get to class.

It’s Not a Moped. It’s a Scooter: Last March, my wife and I purchased two scooters from Scooter Invasion in Tempe. You may have seen my post about it last April. I have since put almost 1000 miles on mine. I just looked at my checking account to see if our gas spending has decreased since riding the scooters more regularly. (Before you freak out at the numbers, I have to add some disclaimer language: We live in Queen Creek, AZ. Also known as West New Mexico. Also known as the-middle-of-nowhere. It takes us 15 minutes to get to a grocery store, and we’re 12 miles from a freeway. My wife’s job takes her all around the valley so she drives a lot; more than the average commuter.) Here’s a breakdown our fuel spending for the past three months:

I’ll admit, it’s not always pleasant to ride with 100+ degree temperatures, but savings like this can really make it worth it. I’m looking forward to next semester when all my classes are on the Polytechnic campus. I expect these numbers to drop even lower.

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Here are some additional resources available to the ASU community:

U-Pass | In 2005, Arizona State University teamed up with Valley Metro to offer the ASU U-Pass. The card was good for one year and allowed ASU students unlimited access to every Valley Metro bus. Faculty and staff could also obtain the U-Pass at a discounted rate.

According to the ASU Parking & Transit website, “The U-Pass program has become an enormous success, with nearly 1.5 million boardings on Valley Metro buses by ASU U-Pass users reported last fiscal year.” As the U-Pass enters its third year, holders will also be able to ride the METRO light rail for free when it begins service in December 2008.  If you have questions about getting your U-Pass, visit the ASU Commuter Options website.

To find a bus route close to you, visit ValleyMetro.org. You can figure out your trip from start to finish with their Bus Trip Planner.

If you want to stay up to date on the progress of the METRO light rail, the folks at RailLife.com have created a very informational site. Their goal is to “assist business owners, commuters, sports fans, convention goers, property owners, students, art lovers, vacationers and YOU in learning more about the areas and venues surrounding the light rail line.” They also have a blog that features video and weekly updates on construction progress, and anything else you’d ever want to know about the light rail. Here’s a link to subscribe to their RSS feed.

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So Sun Devils, what are YOU doing to cut back? Submit your tips in the comments.

If you’re reading from outside the ASU community, let us know what you’ve been doing to cut your fuel costs. 

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UPDATE: David Giesberg of davidgiesberg.com just enlightened me to Hypermiling. Thanks for the tip David!

I just checked out hypermiling.com. They’ve got some great tips about how to change your driving habits. I’m especially interested in the report from “step 4.” Here’s a quote and link to the research report:

Anti-Traffic was “discovered” and described by Electrical Engineer William J. Beaty in a very well written and detailed article in 1998. Check out his groundbreaking research article about negating traffic congestion waves

The methods Beaty identifies in his article are a key to hypermiling, because (1) the gasoline wasted in traffic congestion causes a tremendous nationwide cumulative effect on the demand for fossil fuels, and (2) without traffic jams, we’d all be moving along smoothly in our cars, resulting in less stops and starts, which equals less acceleration (uses gas) and less braking-induced deceleration (which wastes the motion we began when we accelerated.) And of course less time spent stopped, when your car is getting zero miles per gallon.

Keep those tips coming!

Alexa talks about that post on her blog a few days ago. Here’s a link to the post. Thanks for the mention Alexa, and I’m sorry to hear that you weren’t able to ever take advantage of it while you were in school!

I’ve been reading Educated Nation since January when I made some new friends in the college blogging scene. It’s a great site that features insightful posts about higher education. If you don’t already, you should subscribe to their feed.

Oh yeah - quit procrastinating and go rent your books for fall semester.

The popularity of personalization is beginning to show as the university prepares to release a new version of the myASU page that will merge three popular sites: ASU Interactive, ASU Current Students, and myASU. This will create a one-stop-shop for students to manage their academic life. According to the project website the new site will go live on July 20.

Based on student feedback that was collected last May, the University has set out to simplify the online experience for current and potential students. Leah Lommel, Director of Academic Development at ASU responded saying that:

We are trying to consolidate the ASU web experience for the students so they get the most pertinent information to be successful in school without a lot of digging around.  It is about a personalized experience pertaining to them and their ASU. We plan to continue this strategy of student feedback and more surveys to make the experience better and more integrated over time.

The current survey is asking students to review a semi-working sample of the proposed redesign. Below is a screenshot of the new layout taken from the project website:

So far, the survey results have been positive. Lommel provided me with a few  of the comments that have been received so far.

• It seems a LOT better than the student page we have now. It’s already seeming more useful.
• I really like the set up, it’s easy to understand, it’s useful and I definitely think it’s easier to understand for freshman.

It’s an impressive start and a HUGE improvement on the existing setup. Consolidating these three sites into one location will greatly improve how students keep track of their academic career. No longer will we have to search around from page to page to register for a class or to check announcements from professors. This is an enormous undertaking, so my kudos to everyone involved. I am excited that they are asking, and will continue to ask students for feedback. This is a classic characteristic of emerging web technology; get the users involved and rely on the collective wisdom of your customer base. Here is a bit of the feedback I left yesterday when I took the survey:

• Move the “My Info”/”My Stuff” tabs on the top left instead of top right.
• When student clicks on “My Info”, it would be nice to have a customizable dashboard, similar to the look of the current ASU Google start page. Students could pick and choose which info boxes are displayed on this dashboard.
• Make an RSS version of the academic calendar so that students can add it to their ASU Google Calendar or any other calendar that supports subscriptions.
• Add a link to the ASU announcements section so that students can subscribe via RSS or email to these announcements.
• More prominent links to information about tutors/LRC resources

The project is managed by Lissa Gladden. You can track its progress here if you like.

If you are interested in providing feedback to the project team, spend a few minutes and take the survey.

(Oh yeah - one more thing - the last few questions on the survey ask about mobile devices. Looks like maybe they’re working on developing a version for the iPhone/Blackberry/other mobile devices…)

UPDATE 7/22: Looks like the site is live now. Although, officially it is not supposed to roll out until next week, I was able to view the new page today. If you’re interested in taking a look, check out the new my.asu.edu. Or, you can click the myASU button under the search bar at the top of the blog. I’ve updated the button to direct to the new version. You’ll need your ASURite username and password for access.

Email Posts: Now you can send a post to friends and family by tapping the familiar “email” link at the bottom of a post. This will open the native email application on your device, with the subject line and post content automatically populated in the body of a new email. After sending the email, you are automatically returned to Reader. When I tried it just now, the Reader screen didn’t even have to refresh, so it looks like you can get right back to where you left off in your feeds. Nice.

Share with Note: While you’ve always been able to add a post to your shared items from your iPhone or Touch, now you can personalize it by adding a note. Tap the “with note” link at the bottom of a post, and a text box slides down for you to add text.

I’ve started using this share feature a lot more lately. I’ve added Reader to my minifeed in Facebook, and there’s also a link to my shared items from the geekstew homepage. If you’re interested in reading the posts where I’ve left comments, there’s even a link for that too.

Sharing is caring. That’s what my mom always taught me.

[homepage photo from JJ*'s photostream on Flicker]

I had a crazy dream that was simply hilarious. I think I woke up because I was laughing. At exactly 3:37 am, in a half-awake-half-asleep coma, apparently I reached for my iPod Touch and clumsily tapped some notes about my dream so I wouldn’t forget it. Here is what I found in the morning when I woke up (I have not corrected the spelling errors):

Go to bayhroomvtobbrush teeth
No toothpaste
Go to store
See beef jerky
Buy beef jerky
Eat it
Go home
Realize young didn’t but toothpaste
Spent all your money

While not nearly as hilarious as it was in my dream, this was still pretty funny to read. Mostly because it makes no sense to me at all. I’m not sure if this is a to-do list, or if it is a record of something that I did. At any rate, there is obviously a need for beef jerky flavored toothpaste. I’ll have to give Colgate and Crest a call.

[photo on homepage is from mailliw's photostream on Flickr]

1. Google Calendar: While they haven’t ever released very many new features, this is still one of the best calendar tools I have ever used. I love the text message reminders for events. Using Google Calendar has become essential for me stay on top of school work and exam dates.
2. iPod Touch: After downloading the January software update, this thing turned into a lifesaver for me. I almost forgot that it also plays music. Some of the widgets/tools I use most on this incredible device are: Notes, Maps, and Google Reader.
3. Jott: The most useful applications are the ones that work in the background. The ones that blend in. The ones that offer features that perfectly adapt to your lifestyle without a major learning curve. I started using Jott very sporadically, but I bet I use it at least every other day now. I rarely visit my actual Jott account. The major uses I get out of this service is the ability to add an event to my Google Calendar, to set myself a quick reminder, or to update my Twitter status. I absolutely love this simple little service, even if they don’t get it right every time.

Those are my top three as of right now. I just saw a tweet from Kelly Sutton at HackCollege. He’s back from a camping trip and looking for ideas for a post. If you’re up to it Kelly, I’d love to hear your top three tech tools you’ll be using to conquer the upcoming semester.

[Homepage photo taken from Abizeleth's "Most Interesting" photoset on Flickr.]