Walking sucks. Sure, you get some exercise, but you’re constantly tired out and never on time. So, for those of you who have decided to take the plunge and bring a car to Cal, we at the Clog would like to recommend some of the best. When it comes to Berkeley, these three are undoubtedly on the honor roll.

1. Honda Fit

Size matters, folks. We like ‘em small.

This spritely little auto has a lot going for it. The cash-strapped college student will not only appreciate how cheap it is to purchase (the Fit is one of the cheapest new cars you can buy), but also how little it costs to run. And not only does the Fit give you stellar mileage, but this is a Honda we’re talking about here. That means that it will never, ever break down — hell, it’ll probably outlast you. And then there’s the Honda Fit’s real calling card: its size. This thing takes the definition of compact car to a whole new level: We’ve seen bikes bigger than this thing. That really pays major dividends when you’re hustling down Telegraph, dodging seemingly blind motorists and obnoxious Cal students left and right (seriously, wait for the goddamn walk symbol). And that tiny parking spot on Bancroft? You can slip in while every compensating jerk in his SUV tries (and fails) to fit. Sometimes in a huge city like Berkeley, it pays to go small.

2. Toyota Prius C

Tree huggers will love you.

Fun fact: did you know the Prius actually isn’t just one car anymore? It’s evolved into a line of cars from Toyota that includes the Prius C, the baby Prius. This small and cheap (noticing a theme?) hybrid is great for a lot of the reasons that the Fit stands out, but it excels even more than the Honda in fuel economy. Driving around Berkeley is a decidedly slow affair, and cars burn a lot more fuel at lower speeds than at higher ones (especially when you factor in the fuel wasted waiting at one of Berkeley’s infamous red lights). The Prius C, however, skips around this by being a hybrid. So what does this mean to you? Less money spent on gas, and more for books! Or booze. Let’s be honest, you’re probably going to spend it on booze.

 3. Subaru Impreza

Just don’t get this color, and you’ll be fine.

Sure, this Subaru is a bit chunky and more expensive compared to the last two cars. But there’s a reason for this: This car places a priority on safety. It’s aced nearly every crash test it’s been put through, and it has a bunch of technologies on board that keep you out of an accident in the first place (like all-wheel-drive). When you wrap your shiny new car around a tree, you’ll certainly feel embarrassed. But at least you might have a shot at walking away with only your car and pride in pieces. Safety first, folks. Especially with a bunch of aggravated, sleep-deprived Berkeley kids.

Photo credit: Aidan-Sally, timomcd mariordo59 and Lewaedd-Q under Creative Commons

Contact Sherdil Niyaz at sniyaz@dailycal.org.

The post The 3 best cars for Berkeley appeared first on The Daily Californian.

We at The Daily Clog are all too familiar with the challenges of starting a new life at UC Berkeley: dodging flyers on Sproul, staying up late to finish projects (hello, CS 61A) and just trying to stay afloat in such a prestigious university. It’s a tall order — all the more reason to make sure you’re well-equipped for the job. Here are three things we highly recommend having:

1. A printer

Pure joy.

We know what you’re thinking: “But the SLC! The library!” Which is true … technically. But let’s be honest here — the chances of you actually doing your work on time are about as good as the chances of Stanford and Cal students frolicking in a meadow together. When you’re printing that Slavic studies essay at 2 a.m., do you really want to make the aggravating trek to campus just to print the damn thing? Of course not, because you’re running on 5-hour Energy, broken dreams and a couple of Red Bulls as it is. In fact, there are few gadgets more worthwhile than a printer, and a good one can cost as little as $30 these days. You have no excuse. Don’t know how to set it up? Make friends with an EECS major. He or she could use some companionship.

2. A good tablet

Actually good for something besides Temple Run

These are the wonder devices of the tech industry right now, and they also happen to have amazing implications in education. After all, do you want to be the only schmuck carrying around actual books? Every latte-sipping hipster has already put the needed texts on his or her iPad — and, for once, the hipsters are on to something. These little wonders are also excellent for note-taking and can often save you the hassle of having to lug around a brick of a laptop. Why carry all that junk when an elegant little slate will suffice? But the real kicker: Their prices are dropping even faster than a UC Berkeley engineer’s GPA — the new Nexus 7, considered one of the best tablets ever made, comes in at just $230. If you haven’t joined the tablet bandwagon, college is an excellent time to finally get in on the game. Your back will thank you for it. (Admittedly, so will Google and Apple.)

3. A separate keyboard for your laptop

The tool of a champion. A fast champion

We know: your laptop has a keyboard. Duh. It’s probably decent and maybe even good. But it can’t touch the ease and comfort of a real detachable keyboard (like the one on a desktop.) When you’ve got a date with Rhetoric R1A, it’s time to break out the big guns. Investing in a roomy separate keyboard you can plug into your laptop (for essay-writing and other intense activities!) is something you will appreciate almost instantly. Built-in laptop keyboards are meant to be small and compact. That’s just the nature of their design. But trying to type an essay on one? That’s like being sent Urkel when you really need Rambo. You’ll be amazed how much a dedicated keyboard increases your typing speed, giving you more time for the things that matter — reading the Clog, for instance.

Image sources: Per Petterson jared moran, Yutaka Tsutano and andyrusch under Creative Commons

Contact Sherdil Niyaz at sniyaz@dailycal.org.

The post The top 3 tech necessities for college appeared first on The Daily Californian.

The iPhone 5C can best be compared to seeing an ex at a party. At first, you just want to ignore your ex, but then you get intrigued by his or her supposedly “new personality” and finally are tempted to give it a shot (even though you know there are way better options out there).

The iPhone 5C, released Sept. 20, was designed to replace the iPhone 5 in Apple’s smartphone lineup and follows up the best smartphone made in years — no pressure, right? (We at the Clog would like to think UC Berkeley students know a thing or two about pressure.) The thing is, technology usually gets better over time. It’s a rule. So why, then, does the 5C seem to be inferior to its predecessor in terms of quality?

The original iPhone 5 felt like something that was made with the care of a Ferrari or a Bugatti — the metal back alone screamed, “This phone is worth more than most houses in the Third World!” But the 5C? It’s plastic. Not metal, like the 5, or even glass, like the 4S. It’s plastic. Cheap plastic. Fisher-Price plastic. Ew.

On the plus side, it can probably grate cheese.

Now, if the iPhone 5C were markedly cheaper, this downgrade in quality could perhaps be forgiven. The 5C (unbelievably) costs the same as an original iPhone 5 would today ($99), had it not been discontinued. For only $100 more, you could get an iPhone 5S (Apple’s other new iPhone) with a better processor, better camera and a fingerprint scanner. And, ultimately, you’re a student. You’re going to be glued to your smartphone with club updates, texts and notifications about failed midterms for a few years. You might as well spend a few bucks and make that experience the best it can be. After all, this is the device that’s going to be telling you you’ve missed your Tele-BEARS appointment. Again.

Buy this iPhone. Not the Skittles one.

Sometimes you have to realize when things aren’t going to work out and when you deserve something better. iPhone 5C, it’s not us — it’s you.

Image Sources: janitors, Compudemano and jtjdt

Contact Sherdil Niyaz at sniyaz@dailycal.org

The post Why the iPhone 5C doesn’t make sense for UC Berkeley students appeared first on The Daily Californian.

You’re running down the sidewalk, and you’re 10 minutes late. You just need to shoot one more text to your soon-to-be ex-significant other explaining yourself — they’ll understand, right? But just as you hit that send button, your screen goes blank, you see that horrid shutdown symbol and your phone has gone kaput. And with it went your love life. Why?

Because you just ran out of battery. At the moment you needed it most.

Battery life is the single biggest thing we hate about our gadgets. We at the Clog always hear people whining about how their iPhones die on them — but it turns out there’s actually a reason for this. And no, your phone isn’t possessed. Just like all of those shots you had at the party last night, these little things can add up over time and seriously mess stuff up.

Your screen need not be this bright.

Let’s start with the biggest culprit: your gadget’s screen. Bright screens can make your phone come to life. If you usually set your screen brightness high enough to use your phone as a signal flare, your battery life will suffer. More power from your gadget goes to lighting up its display than literally anything else.

Just say no.

Another way you can prevent your phone from bidding adieu all of a sudden: keeping your Wi-Fi off when you don’t need it. Why the hell do you need Wi-Fi active on all your devices at one time? That email from your boss will pop up perfectly well on your laptop. But your smartphone doesn’t know that — so it will obliviously continue to sniff out Wi-Fi in order to deliver that same email to you.

This is what a charger looks like. Use it.

Now, a bit of chemistry. (We know Chem 1AL and 4A just had their midterms, so we’ll try to avoid giving you nightmares.) Each time you plug your phone or laptop into the wall, it loses a bit of its battery capacity. Halfway through its life cycle, the average battery might hold only 80 percent of the charge it used to. The solution? Try to charge your phone fully, and avoid charging it overly frequently. Plugging it in several times a day is a surefire way to make your battery give out early.

Finally, the biggest way you can maximize your battery life: Actually charge your phone! It might seem stupid, but human error is usually to blame when your phone shuts down. We’ve faced this situation countless times before: forgetting to plug in at night and then staring at our phone in despair in the morning. Looks like we have to muscle through the day on a 12 percent charge … again.

Image Sources:  intelfreepress, free-stock,  woodleywonderworks and osde8info under Creative Commons

Contact Sherdil Niyaz at sniyaz@dailycal.org.

The post Why your battery only lasts for 5 seconds appeared first on The Daily Californian.

1. Not using a case with your smartphone.

Stare into the face of regret.

We love our smartphones.  If you paid hundreds of dollars for a iPhone, spending $5 on a case would probably be a wise investment. People have always told you to use protection in college — listen to them. It’s a bit mind-boggling that we see so many people on campus using their iPhones or Galaxy smartphones without a case at all. (Coincidentally, we also see a lot of our fellow Bears using cracked phones.) You can find them literally anywhere: Daiso, Amazon and even at Caltopia.

2. Buying a way more powerful computer than you actually need.

This doesn’t make you cool. It just means you wasted money.

We’re not going to lie: We love technology in a way that most people wouldn’t consider healthy. And we, like many students at Cal, felt the urge to go out and buy the nicest computer we could for college. Blazing fast processor? 10 terabytes of storage? Beautiful HD screen? Built-in ice maker?  Check, check, check and check. But before you go out and drop $2,000 on a Facebook checker, you should ask ourselves if you really need to. Powerful (and expensive) computers are great, but you probably don’t need to blow next month’s tuition on a machine that has enough brain power to fire a missile.  Despite what Apple, Lenovo and HP want you to believe, the average user isn’t going to see very much difference in day-to-day use from a mid-level computer to the very top-of-the-line laptops. Any $400 Dell or Asus will serve your needs just fine, unless you’re a mech-E major who needs to run serious 3-D modeling software. Go buy another computer with that extra $1,000. Or three.

3. Putting your laptop on bedding or carpet.

This could happen to you. And then you’ll definitely panic.

It always irritates us when we see ads for computers with smiling people using their laptops in bed, because the companies that run them know this is actually the last thing you should do with their product. We know it’s tempting to sprawl out on your comfy pillow with your laptop in front of you and work on that essay that was due last week, but there’s a pretty compelling reason you shouldn’t. Flip your laptop over, and you’ll be able to see its most critical part: the fan. Placing a laptop on a soft, fluffy surface like a bed or carpet means that those fans and vents end up more clogged than Paula Deen’s arteries, making your laptop far more susceptible to overheating. Your baby is essentially cooking its own guts.

Image Sources: grilled_cheese, alexik, bfishadow and sarabbit under Creative Commons

Contact Sherdil Niyaz at sniyaz@dailycal.org.

The post The 3 biggest tech mistakes you’re making at Cal appeared first on The Daily Californian.