With computers nerds quickly becoming a prized and sought after commodity in the world, more and more companies are warming up to the idea of pleasing said nerds. And since about 90% of these nerds are gamers, it should come as no surprise that companies are placing an increased emphasis on the gaming community.

These standardized tests are supposed to be "super tests" but they can be beaten easily by a good test taker and a small amount of study time. The answers are actually fairly predictable -- for example in the English portion the shortest answer is almost always the right one. They may say that the triangles and rectangles are not drawn to size, but they really are. And, since colleges base admission off of these tests, it pays (literally) to be a good test taker even if you don't have the best grades. Unfortunately, that's bad news for the people who may be brilliant but who process information differently, or who can't take a test well to save their lives. Read more...

In this post I continue my discussion about teenagers and Xanga and answer three common questions. 1) Is it important for a kid's Xanga to be private? 2) Don't kids put a lot of inappropriate material on their Xangas? How can that be good? 3) What do you say about all the concerns parents have regarding safety on the Internet? Is Xanga safe?

Xanga is an online blogging site that now also allows you to accumulate a social network. With it, you can keep track of your friends' lives by reading their latest posts, and get connected to people you haven't spoken to in years (as long as they have a Xanga too). It's a great way to keep updated on people's lives and to share your own ordeals when you're stuck at home with nothing to do. I first created a Xanga as an underclassman. I had no car and no cell phone so I resorted to the Internet as a way to stay connected with my friends. Read more...

A bus trip to Indianapolis, Indiana from Oklahoma can take about fourteen hours. Fourteen hours on a charter bus with fifty other students always makes for an interesting trip. In this article I explain how to survive and have fun with the help of technology. Read more...

Instant messaging has swept through the wired world and it represents the primary communication option for many teens. I have the option of using AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, or MSN Messenger on my cell phone. To some teens it simply offers the option of chatting with friends while not using cell phone minutes or tying up the house phone line. To the shy it offers a way of socializing and talking more impersonally, with time to calculate what they should say (personally, I just don't like phones and I type better than I speak). Read more...

(Editor's note: In this new series, Students on Student Tech, Katrina Rinaldi tackles the technology students use both in school and out in the wild. This is a weekly series that will, hopefully, provide honest insight into how and why technology matters to kids between the ages of 15-22. Katrina Rinaldi is a graduating high school senior and will begin her university studies this coming fall. She will write about subjects ranging from MySpace to classroom clickers and tell us why she and her cohorts like and don't like specific technologies.)

In this inauguralStudents on Student Tech article, Katrina talks about mtvU and compares it to other popular sites such as MySpace and facebook. The verdict? Read on...

C'mon, teachers, can't you make it more fun? This high school student shows us that instead of detracting from the learning process, a little entertainment goes a long way toward helping students learn.

It's a fact that students want to learn, and the best teachers are the ones who make sure they do.