Headphones to Amplify the College Experience

A good pair of headphones is every student’s best friend. Whether you’re seeking inspiration or tuning out the crowds, headphones help you focus, put you in a good mood, and transform your boring trek across campus into a tuneful experience.

Since so many people want, use, and lose headphones, electronics makers crank them out by the million in a bewildering array of styles and models. Since you’ll be wearing them a lot, you want them to look good and feel good. Here are some tips that will help you buy the headphones that are right for you.

Earbuds are everywhere. Many come equipped with rubber nubs that slip on for comfort and stability. These are great if you’re going to be exercising with your earbuds in, because you can pull off and wash or replace those nubs when they get grimy. You can also opt for a washable or waterproof set, if you’re willing to shell out the extra cash.

Buying earbuds can often be a guess-and-check process, because you never know what’s going to fit best in your ear. It tends to be worthwhile to spend a little extra money, because cheap earbuds are quick to disintegrate. Unless you’re on an extremely tight budget, be wary of spending less than $20 on any pair.

These big earmuff style headphones cover your entire ear to block out most external noise, allowing you to pick up every nuance in your tunes. Often they have higher quality sound reproduction because of the larger casing, although not always.

Noise cancelling headphones can cost as little as $20 to several thousand dollars for studio quality headsets. If you’re a musician or a video editor (and your budget allows) gravitate toward the better quality headphones and look for respected brands such as Bose, Sennheiser, and AKG. Most importantly, try on a few different sets to see what feels comfortable. You’re going to spend a lot of time in these, and since they tend to be heavy, you want to be sure they’re comfortable.

If your ears tend to reject earbuds and you don’t want to block out the entire world, try some lighter weight over-ear headphones. There are variations that clip onto the ear, hang off of the ear, wrap around the back of your head (great for exercising) and the standard, classic, over-the-top style. These are usually very affordable, but again, be wary of spending less than $20 if you care about sound quality.

Whether you’re trying to make a fashion statement with a pair of Beats or going minimalistic with a pair of Apple Earbuds (a statement all its own), your headphones are going to become a permanent part of your repertoire.

Coverdell, 529, Roth: Which to tap first for college?

 

Take into account taxes and, if you qualify, need-based aid, says Troy Onink, CEO of Stratagee.com, a college-planning firm.

Start with the 529 and Coverdell Education Savings Account: Withdrawals for eligible expenses, such as tuition and books, aren't taxed or counted as income in financial-aid calculations.

You might also tap the mutual funds to get the American Opportunity Tax Credit, worth as much as $2,500 annually. You'll have to spend up to $4,000 from sources other than the 529 or ESA; the income phaseout is $180,000 for couples and $90,000 for singles.

Related: Getting the financial aid you need

Save the Roth for last (using it only if you're already set for retirement). You can withdraw contributions tax-free; earnings used for school are taxed as income.

Twitter: @sajilpl

Appeals Court Upholds College Student's $675,000 Piracy Penalty

In the long-running case of Joel Tenenbaum, who was ordered in 2009 by a jury to pay $675,000 for illegally downloading and sharing 30 songs online, the First Circuit Court of Appeals decided on Tuesday that the penalty should stand.

The penalty came to $22,500 for each song infringed, which Tenenbaum argued was unconstitutionally excessive under the due process clause.

But in a case that was first brought in 2007 as part of the RIAA's aborted legal campaign against individual file-sharers, the appeals court doesn't see anything wrong with that.

"Tenenbaum carried on his activities for years in spite of numerous warnings, he made thousands of songs available illegally, and he denied responsibility during discovery," says the appellate court. "Much of this behavior was exactly what Congress was trying to deter when it amended the Copyright Act. Therefore, we do not hesitate to conclude that an award of $22,500 per song, an amount representing 15% of the maximum award for willful violations and less than the maximum award for non-willful violations, comports with due process."

Tenenbaum argued that the actual injury to the record labels was $450, the cost of the 30 albums.

The appeals court retorts, "But this argument asks us to disregard the deterrent effect of statutory damages, the inherent difficulty in proving damages in a copyright suit, and Sony's evidence of the harm that it suffered from conduct such as Tenenbaum's."

In making the ruling, the First Circuit had to analyze different precedents for how to apply damages and settled on one brought in a Supreme Court case that held that a statutory damage award violates due process only "where the penalty prescribed is so severe and oppressive as to be wholly disproportioned to the offense and obviously unreasonable."

Punishing piracy with a large award doesn't meet that test because Congress designed statutory damages to be a deterrent, the judges conclude.

 

Meet the College Kids Who Set Out to Build the 'Ultimate Electric Vehicle'

The World Solar Challenge is returning to the Land Down Under this fall, and with new rules, new teams, and new cars, the University of Michigan team is betting big on its latest design, the Generation.

 

U of M is, hands-down, one of the most well-funded teams on the grid for this year’s 1,800-mile, week-long endurance event in Australia. With sponsorship from both Ford and General Motors, along with industrial juggernauts Siemens, the team has taken first place in the North American Solar Challenge seven times. But even with all that green at their disposal, U of M has only placed third — five times, mind you — in the past 10 years on the global stage.

 

U of M aims to change that this year.

 

For the 2013 event, the biggest change in the rules is the requirement that all cars have four wheels, versus three. But while more wheels are good for stability and are closer to production vehicles, it’s bad for aerodynamics, causing more drag and wasting precious sun-stolen electrons. Adding to the challenge, the wheels can’t be directly next to each other and — per the rules passed in 2007 — the driver has to remain upright in a seat, rather than lying down.

 

U of M’s solution is to situate the driver, normally positioned in the center of the car, on the far left side, placing his body in a elongated fairing that envelops both the front and rear wheels.

 

“In ’07, you had to figure out where to put the driver in the air foil,” says Eric Hausman, the team’s project manager and a senior in industrial and operations engineering at U of M. “This year, it’s similar. You have to figure out how to arrange the wheels and the driver in the new optimal position, and we think we’ve found that basic geometry.”

 

But with the driver’s weight adding tonnage to the left side, the team had to balance things out by placing some of the heavier components opposite the “butt bucket” — their term for the driver’s seat.

 

“We have the driver and two wheels all in one giant fairing on the left side of the car and on the right side, we have two small fairings—one for each wheel,” says Hausman. “Aerodynamically, it’s about creating as few bumps on the surface as possible. The design also reduces shading of the solar cells by placing the canopy to the side.”

 

The team likes to think of the solar-powered Generation as the “ultimate electric vehicle”, and the new design is getting closer to something resembling an actual car. As long as you’re not carrying a passenger or planning a trip to the grocery store.

 

This year’s event, which is set to be held October 6 through 13, will have 100 teams competing between Darwin to Adelaide, Australia, and you can follow U of M’s progress at SolarCar.