Sunday, November 30, 2008

Unigo: Actually Useful College Reviews

I remember junior year of high-school when I went with my parents on the typical tour of New England colleges. At the time the ivy halls and quads all blended together and I left struggling to distinguish one school from the other. I wish I had Unigo back then.

The idea behind Jordan Goodman's site is to let students offer insights into the true character of their universities. With videos, testimonials and photos, Unigo feels like a mix between a friend's Facebook page and Amazon product reviews.

I went to check out my alma mater, NYU, to see how accurate the info was:

Here's Madeline Goico's summary of major stereotypes:

All the guys are gay. All the students are rich. There are a lot of Jewish people. Tisch students are pretentious. Stern students are amoral money mongers. NYU is a wannabe Ivy League.

Certainly won't see that in US News & World.

Check out some of the pictures. Now here's a tiny, filthy hole-in-the wall Goddard dorm. A party in U-Hall. Yeah, that's not what they show on campus tours.

And video tours? Zach talks about free printing in Stern hall? Visits the Weinstein cafeteria? Discusses the ridiculous scheme to move the Washington Square arch a few feet (Boy glad my tuition dollars were well spent).

Seriously. This is a great site. This is internet 2.0 at it's best.

Check out this article from the NY Times and other alums go and add your comments. Future generations should be warned.

Monday, November 24, 2008

PanchuMom: My Wife's New Blog!



If you've noticed a drop in activity from my part - say, over the last 6 and 1/2 months - that's largely due to Lucas, our little bundle of joy (and vacuum of blogging time). While my stingy scholar moments have been largely supplanted by horsey rides and nappy changes, motherhood's inspired my wife.

From "one hand" recipes and homemade toys to candid reviews of parenting books, PanchuMom covers the spectrum of the new mom universe. Cheli's blog is helpful, critical, personal and practical.

I hope you enjoy and please feel free to comment and share.