Preparing for the Upcoming Semester

[deleted303591]

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How are you preparing for the upcoming semester? I am curious of what others are doing.

I am:

- Finishing scanning all of my textbooks to PDF (All books except one left to scan)

- Backing up my laptop's hard drive (via Time Machine, for OS X)

- Putting all of my books on my iPad and iPhone

- Installing a new operating system on my HP 50g calculator

- Gathering "collection folders" of various files from classes from peers

- Hooking up my Slingbox (again, after disconnecting it), allowing me to watch U-Verse at school

- Getting my streaming music, Netflix, Hulu Plus working on my iPhone, iPad, PS Vita, and Laptop

- Packing all of the medical supplies and tools I might need while I am at school for symptom relief and to take care of my illnesses. I have autoimmune autonomic neuropathy (ganglionopathy) and type 1 diabetes.

While I work extremely hard when I am at school, I find it important to have ways to relax at school. My illness is stressful and fatiguing and it is important to get comfortable and have very good forms of relaxation. It is just as important as having great study skills. Also, I am a commuter at a commuter-university.

 

[MedPR]

How are you preparing for the upcoming semester? I am curious of what others are doing.

I am:

- Finishing scanning all of my textbooks to PDF (All books except one left to scan)
- Backing up my laptop's hard drive (via Time Machine, for OS X)

- Putting all of my books on my iPad and iPhone

- Installing a new operating system on my HP 50g calculator

- Gathering "collection folders" of various files from classes from peers

- Hooking up my Slingbox (again, after disconnecting it), allowing me to watch U-Verse at school

- Getting my streaming music, Netflix, Hulu Plus working on my iPhone, iPad, PS Vita, and Laptop

- Packing all of the medical supplies and tools I might need while I am at school for symptom relief and to take care of my illnesses. I have autoimmune autonomic neuropathy (ganglionopathy) and type 1 diabetes.

While I work extremely hard when I am at school and I am a serious student. I find it important to have ways to relax at school. My illness is stressful and fatiguing and it is important to get comfortable and have very good forms of relaxation. It is just as important as having great study skills. Also, I am a commuter at a commuter-university.

You scan them page by page? 😱

 

[sieg5]

I don't have an iPad so I got a binder, 4 folders, 4 journals, filler paper and a few hi-liters. My plan is to take notes on each class and then convert them into a final draft form on the filler paper and label them with tabs that say the dates they were taken. I also got a teacher grade book because I thought it a good idea to fill in the grades I get so I know what they are and know where to direct my energy. Once I do have an iPad, my book bag will probably get a lot lighter.

 

[Cinclus]

You scan them page by page? 😱

Yeah, that's intense. I'm glad that most of my med school texts have a free online version with purchase of the book, though I still prefer reading from the book, if I'm at home.

 

[deleted303591]

You scan them page by page? 😱

Yes. I do not like to use an automatic document feeder because the pages get skewed. I scan it page by page on the platen.

This is how I do it:

1. Go to Kinko's and get the binding cut off of my textbooks for about $2

2. Put a flash drive in to my printer/scanner.

3. Set it to scan, in color, 600 DPI (Dots per inch), in PDF

4. Scan it page by page on the platen, storing each chapter as a file.

After I am finished scanning a textbook I:

1. Disconnect the flash drive.

2. Connect the flash drive to a school computer with Adobe Acrobat Professional.

3. Combine all of the "chapter PDFs" in to a single "book"

My books usually end up being around 1.5 GB a piece. I do not like scanning it in 300 DPI or even in black and white (even if the book is actually black and white), even though a lot of people prefer this. I like my books to be as high quality as possible.

Also, note that the iPad does not (natively) support books that are >= 1 GB. You do need to split the books up in to chapters if your book is >= 1 GB.

 

[IncognitoGuy]

I usually just bought notebooks/binders for my classes. Most of the time I could re-use stuff and I have a humongous box of mechanical pencils that has yet to run out (bought it my freshman year). I usually wait until after the first week to buy textbooks - this has saved me so much money when I can figure out if I actually need the books or not.

I'd also suggest solidifying your sleep schedule - there's nothing worse than borderline insomnia the first week back because you inverted your hours over break. 😛

 

[deleted303591]

Yeah, that's intense. I'm glad that most of my med school texts have a free online version with purchase of the book, though I still prefer reading from the book, if I'm at home.

I wish that was the case for undergrad books.

 

[deleted303591]

I don't have an iPad so I got a binder, 4 folders, 4 journals, filler paper and a few hi-liters. My plan is to take notes on each class and then convert them into a final draft form on the filler paper and label them with tabs that say the dates they were taken. I also got a teacher grade book because I thought it a good idea to fill in the grades I get so I know what they are and know where to direct my energy. Once I do have an iPad, my book bag will probably get a lot lighter.

That's an awesome idea!

BTW, there are apps to keep track of your grades on your iPad.

My backpack is a lot lighter now that I have ditched my textbooks, notebooks and paper in general.

It is primarily my iPad and laptop (2010 Macbook Pro) that are the main weight contributors in my backpack.

 

[passionformed]

How are you preparing for the upcoming semester? I am curious of what others are doing.

I am:

- Finishing scanning all of my textbooks to PDF (All books except one left to scan)

- Backing up my laptop's hard drive (via Time Machine, for OS X)

- Putting all of my books on my iPad and iPhone

- Installing a new operating system on my HP 50g calculator

- Gathering "collection folders" of various files from classes from peers

- Hooking up my Slingbox (again, after disconnecting it), allowing me to watch U-Verse at school

- Getting my streaming music, Netflix, Hulu Plus working on my iPhone, iPad, PS Vita, and Laptop

- Packing all of the medical supplies and tools I might need while I am at school for symptom relief and to take care of my illnesses. I have autoimmune autonomic neuropathy (ganglionopathy) and type 1 diabetes.

While I work extremely hard when I am at school, I find it important to have ways to relax at school. My illness is stressful and fatiguing and it is important to get comfortable and have very good forms of relaxation. It is just as important as having great study skills. Also, I am a commuter at a commuter-university.

All I did was...print out a couple of things (well actually I have yet to do that) and bought a couple of notebooks... Good luck on your semester!

 

[CaliGirl14]

is this really a thread

 

[dextor2003]

.

 

[phikapdoctor]

Went to the gym to look good for ladies in my class.

 

[silverturtle]

I slept. 😀

 

[911 Turbo]

How are you preparing for the upcoming semester? I am curious of what others are doing.

I am:

- Finishing scanning all of my textbooks to PDF (All books except one left to scan)

My sensors indicate that you are trying too hard.

 

[TangoDown]

- Bought a multi-subject notebook so I could use it as opposed to the multiple notebooks that I utilized last semester. Still hand-writing all my notes even though my handwriting is absolute garbage because I find my attention-span is not as crystal when there is a laptop in front of me and I'm trying to take notes in class. Plus, I've read that retention is better when writing as opposed to typing, but I might just go digital at some point because of its convenience.

- Trying to solidify better study habits. Last semester wasn't very challenging (all GEs at a CC), so just paying attention during lecture and participating was essentially enough to ace the courses (two things I didn't do in high school which resulting in horrible grades). Plus, my Anthro and Pysch professors both gave out study guides, so that definitely didn't hurt. Alas, I'd like to start a routine so I don't hit the sciences with the same study habits (even though I don't have any sciences this coming semester, either).

- Bought and received all the textbooks. Sadly, like last semester, at least 3/4 of them probably will be of minimal use. I'll just sell them all at some point.

- Bought a load of pens and mechanical pencils.

- Continuing to get dem gainz in the gym.

- I want to get one of those cool hipsterious satchel backpacks, but I already have a normal backpack so there's no point.

- Gave my glasses to my optometrist to remove the transition lenses as I hate them and they've been turning almost purple lately. Luckily, after insurance it only cost me $25 for the replacement.

- Need to by a folder or 4. I had a bunch but I had to use them to turn in essays in last semester's English class and the professor didn't return the last 2 essays for some reason so I never got them back. I was using one of them often for my job 🙁.

 

[deleted303591]

My sensors indicate that you are trying too hard.

Thanks, but it is not that hard. You just watch a movie and stream music while scanning to counteract the boring activity.

Actually, I just viewed a few of my textbooks on my iPad 3 (retina display) via Dropbox on the iAnnotate app, and the books look (unbelieveably) AMAZING. Like 100x better than on my computer, although the scans are high quality (600 DPI) and very satisfactory on my computer.

 

[deleted303591]

I forgot that I am going to have to create a schedule to stick to, between all of my doctors appointments and treatments.

I am going to create a schedule on Monday, when receiving my intravenous immunoglobulin treatment.

The calendar will sync with my Macbook Pro, my iPhone, and my iPad.

 

[Long Way to Go]

I don't understand. Why would you use PDFs if you have the hard copy?

 

[deleted303591]

I don't understand. Why would you use PDFs if you have the hard copy?

Preference. There is less dead weight and I am more likely to use them when they are in PDF.

I can also take better notes directly on the book via my iPad. I can even put audio notes directly on the PDF pages.

 

[Long Way to Go]

Preference. There is less dead weight and I am more likely to use them when they are in PDF.

I can also take better notes directly on the book via my iPad. I can even put audio notes directly on the PDF pages.

Well, each to his own I suppose. I spent an extra $20 to get a hard copy of my biochem textbook in addition to the ebook. I can't study off of a computer screen for very extended periods of time all that well.

 

[deleted303591]

Well, each to his own I suppose. I spent an extra $20 to get a hard copy of my biochem textbook in addition to the ebook. I can't study off of a computer screen for very extended periods of time all that well.

If the screen is not a retina display, I tend to read slower than a normal book. I usually do not have problems with slow reading or fatigue for that matter with an iPad 3 (or a retina display).

I am an electrical engineering major and none of my books are sold in digital format. It is disappointing. This does not stop EEs from scanning entire textbooks though. There are actually professors out there who ask for digital copies of books FROM students so they can take screenshots of book problems to give as homework in PDF. They are out there, just FYI.

I have a disability that effects my ability to read print effectively (I have poor eye accommodation/tracking due to a rare autoimmune disease, severe orthostatic hypotension, and a lot of fatigue), and in order to actually read my books effectively, I need the text (but preferably the entire book) to be digitized. There are resources such as Bookshare, for the computer, tablets, and mobile phones, once the text is digital and has been submitted to Bookshare. But, when the text is digitized (which can therefore be read aloud using a voice synthesizer), formatting is lost, pictures are removed, errors from the optical character recognition process exist (even after extensive proofreading).

Kurzweil 3000 for Windows and Mac is awesome (even if you don't have a disability, it is great software), but it is extremely expensive software. It does what Bookshare does (but also does the optical character recognition process) and more, given you load the PDF in to the software. I can use any text to speech engine/voice synthesizer I want to read the text aloud to me using Kurzweil 3000. It is very, very, powerful software and is good for studying in general (although there are more and more apps out there for iPad that are almost just as many features, but not nearly as powerful)

But anyways, copying more than 10% of a book for any reason is illegal, unless you have a disability that effects your ability to effectively read print, just FYI. The exemption to the copyright law for people with disabilities is called the Chafee Amendment. If you scan books and you do not have a disability, I recommend keeping it low key (not telling anyone) and NEVER share your scans.

After I am done scanning a book, I can either:

1. Punch holes in the hard copy and put it in a 3 ring binder.

2. Go to Kinko's and get it rebound (spiral bound, for example) for like $10