Wouldn’t it be nice if you didn’t have to pay for lunch at work, and it was provided to you? Or when you went to pump gas, your card never got charged?  What if you could use programs on your computer for school without having to take money out of your checking account? This last thought is not a commercial, it’s real. As for the others…you’re dreaming.

Getting technology for “free” isn’t as difficult as you think, and you don’t need to be a celebrity to get out of paying the bill. We have some great tools you can choose from or try out some of the ones listed below.

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This week I’ve decided to mix it up and feature a subject that we couldn’t live without: Science. Whether you’re starting classes towards a career in Biology, laboratory sciences, genetics, or you just know you’re way around a double helix and love studying hydrogen’s bond to oxygen, here are some great websites for scientists, science lovers, and students alike.

If Biology is your “bag” then check out Foldit. This site is distinctly designed to help you understand the structure of a protein, while you build onto previously described structures. The twist here? You’ll be helping scientists at the same time!

If you’re new at this “game” they do have introductory puzzles for beginners to get their feet wet with the basic concepts and tools needed to fold proteins.

Give this protein prediction and design website a try, especially if you’re looking for a break from the biology books.

For some, the prospect of having the periodic table of elements prominently displayed as your desktop or in the form of a poster on a wall sounds dreadful. But for others, such as myself, chemistry, and the periodic table, are  necessary and fascinating evil. It’s the mapping system of the most crucial elements on earth, and a great “cheat sheet” for those studying science.

Lucky for current students there are better ways of recalling information from the periodic table than referring to the sheet in the back of your textbook. I give you Dynamic Periodic Table, and Periodic Table of Elements…Both of these wonderful sites are great alternatives, unique in their own right.

Dynamic Periodic Table allows you to highlight elements and keep them separate by their aggregate state (solid, liquid, gas, unknown) and also by group (nonmetals with subgroups and metals with subgroups). When you click on an individual element it launches a new window with it’s specific information as well as a matching wikipedia article.

This tool is more reminiscent of the charts you spent time with in middle school and high school. Great for the more traditional “element seekers”.

Periodic Table of Elements is a serious website, if you’re “serious” about the elements. Sponsored by DOW this robust table of elements is more compact and is great for quick summaries of the elements. Each element is also accompanied by an image, relating to the element, as well as it’s measurements with a link for further information. Great to bookmark as a go-to guide for all things periodic.

So if you’re feeling nerdy, or have a hankering to build proteins and explore the periodic table, drop by these sites today. It’s a quick way to refresh your brain on things you may be forgetting and need for class.

- J. Mason

If you were looking for a kick in the pants to get you going then I’ve found the site for you. It’s called To Done. Their motto is “Stop making to-do lists and start getting things done.” They think that constantly planning out lists of what you need to do next is a waste of time. The effort spent drawing out what you’ll do next would be better spent contributing time to say a project due tomorrow.

This tool is about taking action with whatever time you have available. That theory should carry into your normal daily routine. It’s a great alternative to someone standing over your shoulder. The process is simple, and it doesn’t take your excuses.

Simply visit their site, while there you have 2 options. You can either register for an account or simply click on the text “Starting To —>doing now!”

With the first option all you need to do is register by providing them with your e-mail address. It sends you an e-mail with your password and you login. From there it asks if you have anything to do, and if not how much time you have. If there was something you had been working on before and never finished it will tell you to work on that now and stop putting it off.

If you choose the second option you simply type in what you should or need to be doing, and share how much time you have to work on that task. It then will give you a message similar to this “You should [write a story] now. Stop, leave this web page, and don’t come back until you’re finished. Seriously.”

Don’t give your task list another thought today. Toss it out and try To Done.

- By J. Mason