Have you ever needed your access to your computer documents but didn’t have your laptop with you? One quick and easy solution would be to take advantage of free cloud computing services. Cloud computing gets its name from the fact that the data storage/applications processing is done remotely on a server and is not hosted or dependent on your own (client) computer – in other words, the data/service is “up in the clouds”.

Cloud computing provides a great service that many students within the Commerce program have used to increase their personal productivity as well as group productivity.

A very popular option for basic and free cloud computing is Dropbox.

I will briefly outline the two main advantages of Dropbox below:

Using Dropbox as “mobile” data storage

Dropbox creates a folder on your computer as well as a duplicate folder on their server. Any files you put on your local Dropbox folder (the one on your computer) will be replicated in the server folder. What’s neat about this is that you can logon to the Dropbox website with your credentials on any computer, upload some files, and those files will also be replicated onto your personal computer (assuming that it is connected to the internet) in real time. This way, you will have access to your documents anywhere you go as long as you have an internet connection – think of it as an online USB that’s always updated based on what you have on your computer. You can also install Dropbox on multiple computers and all the computers will share the same files, based on your Dropbox login credentials. In the same fashion, any files added to the Dropbox folder on one computer will be replicated on the server, as well as on all other computers that are registered to that account in real time, assuming that these computers are connected to the internet. If the other registered computers are not connected to the internet, Dropbox will reconcile the files the next time the computers have access to the internet.

Using Dropbox for collaboration

Not only does Dropbox allow you to sync multiple computers, you can even “share” folders with other users. For example, if I were working in a group project, I would share a folder with my group members that we can all use to submit our content as well as to read other people’s content. This way, If I ever need any files from my group members, I can just look inside the Dropbox folder instead of emailing them for it. This saves a ton of time.

How to get started?

You can download Dropbox here. With a free membership, you will receive 2GB to start. If you refer another person to use Dropbox, you will receive an extra 250MB. If you register as a student (.edu or any other authenticated educational institution i.e. queensu.ca) you will receive double per referral.

Software like Dropbox is becoming widely popular in the technology world as many companies (including Google) believe that cloud computing will be the the future of personal computers, making personal computers more bare-bones and server computing more robust.

The collaboration aspect of Dropbox makes it a must-have for Commerce students who want to increase group productivity.

A similar program to Dropbox is Evernote – an easy way to take notes in class and sync it with multiple computers.

Jason Liu

B.Comm ‘13

Before you head off to university, I highly recommend that you create a time management system that works for you. This article will outline a method that I use to keep track of day-to-day schedule through the use of a few simple technologies while studying at QC. Please note that I am no expert on the topic! This system may or may not work for you – It’s not perfect but it’s a good starting point.

• Using your Outlook/Apple Mail

When you receive your NetID for Queen’s, you’ll have the ability to access your webmail as well as many other online resources. A good first step would be to setup Outlook on your windows or Apple Mail on your mac. This will allow your computer to actively check for emails without accessing your inbox through a browser. IT Services has thorough guides here.

• Outlook Calendar/iCal

Once you have your mail client setup, the next thing you want to do is properly configure your calendar software. You may want to wait until you’ve received your schedule before configuring this as it will be the framework you will use to build your calendar.

Start the process by placing your classes. Make sure to indicate the location as well as the section (this will come in handy later). You can make things easy for yourself by setting the reoccurrence to weekly for each block after you’ve finished your entire weekly schedule. I recommend colour coding your courses so they’re visually separate from your other engagements.

During the school year: You’ll want to set a time once a week or so to set your schedule for the upcoming week(s). Sundays worked well for me in my first year. Try to be as thorough with your schedule as possible. Book-off study/reading times if necessary – this will help you keep on track and get things done. Chances of following a schedule to a tee are slim-to-none so always put in some contingency slots.

Below is a screenshot of one of my busier weeks last year. Use it as a reference to see the typical spacing of classes. (Click to enlarge)

• The Smartphone

You have it with you all the time so might as well make use of it. If you plan on getting a new phone for university, I would highly recommend that you choose a smartphone of some sort. When used correctly, smartphones can be a great time management tool. Most of these devices have calendar sync capabilities. For example, you can use your Blackberry along with the Blackberry desktop management tool to sync your BB calendar with your Outlook or iCal. Why is this useful? This way, you’ll always have access to your schedule no matter where you are. You’ll also know exactly where your classes are as well as which section you’re in (just count the number of times next year when someone asks you during an exam which section you’re in. You’ll understand). Best of all, you’ll never have to remember what you have to get done during the day. As long as you keep with setting your schedule at least once a week, you’ll have you’re entire day planned out in the palm of your hand.

It works wonders to take it one day at a time. As long as you complete what you need to get done today, you don’t have to worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will have it’s own schedule to follow and as long as you keep up with proper planning, that assignment due at the end of the week will be taken care of.

Aside from your calendar, keeping a to-do list on your phone is also a great way to get things done. Make use of the prioritization systems and timed alerts to set reminders.

• The Pen & Pad

Although I’m absolutely obsessed with gadgets, there’s just something about a simple notebook that makes it irreplaceable. Carry one with you in your bag just in case. Sometimes you just need to write a quick checklist that would be more than bothersome to type out on a BB. Also great for leaving quick notes for people.

Hopefully this got you thinking about creating your own time management system. I’ll be posting another article soon about free and effective productivity software and why you should jump into cloud computing to reduce wasted time.

Happy Holidays,

Jason Liu, B.Comm ‘13

“One secret of success in life is to be ready for opportunity when it comes.” -Benjamin Disraeli

This quote was featured in a letter I had received from QSB last year and I am only now beginning to understand its significance. I entered the Commerce program with a very limited business background. My parents and grandparents have all tinkered in various engineering sciences, and the IB program at my high school did not offer options for business-related courses. What surprised me however, was the number of commies who were in the same boat as me. So this a small piece of advice for all of you entering frosh preparing for the transition into a specialized business program:

DON’T PANIC.

It may seem like those who have taken business courses in high school have an advantage at first, but you’ll find that the pace of the courses is tres speedy and everyone who performs well academically has no doubt invested in a serious number of hours & effort. The biggest lesson I can take away from first year is to always leverage your advantages. Figure out your core competencies. Frame obstacles as challenges and don’t be afraid to ask for help. 

(On a slightly different note) as part of your summer reading list, I strongly recommend taking a peek at these 2 titles:

1) “Outliers” by Malcom Gladwell- The story of success; includes an explanation for why Asians are good at math, analysis of talent & hard work, and what the Beatles, Bill Gates & Steve Jobbs have in common. This book was a phenomenal read- interesting and insightful.

2) “It’s not about how good you are, it’s about how good you want to be” by Paul Arden- A concise guide to making the most of yourself filled with common sense that often isn’t so common. Arden was able to tie in life, business and advertising into an entertaining read.

Hope everyone’s enjoying a wonderfully sunny Tuesday,

-Annie

After completing my first year in the program, I wanted to give the incoming students a bit of perspective before you arrive in September regarding marks. It’s probably not something you want to think about during your summer but it certainly pays to be forward-looking.

One of the things that you should expect is that your mark will drop between high school and university (hopefully this isn’t breaking news for any of you). However, there are always those individuals who can maintain their 90’s even in this program but they are rare.

First year will be a great time for you to freely explore your interests inside and outside of business. There are so many opportunities for you to get involved in (as I’m sure you’ve heard numerous times by now) and you should certainly take advantage of them. However, you’ll find that it is extremely easy to to overload your schedule and this can cause your marks to take a hit. No matter how you compensate for them, you still want your marks to be healthy. Now, I’m not saying to go lock yourself in your room and study like a hermit but you don’t want to close any doors in the future because you misallocated your time and priorities. Below, I’ll give you a few reasons why you need to maintain your marks. I’ll leave the judging up to you as to whether you personally think it is important for you to consider.

In no particular order:

1. Cumulative averages: before, your final average entering university was based on your top 6 grades exiting high school. Now, every single mark counts. Make sure to consider the credit weighting of courses as well. Many people will consider ECON110 as a lost cause if they skip too many classes. However, since it’s worth 1.0 credits, that’s the equivalent of 2 commerce courses. You should certainly try to capitalize on the full year courses if it is your forte as it can do wonders for your average.
2. Exchange: Although exchange takes place in 3rd year, you receive your placement in the 2nd term of 2nd year. This means you will be judged on your first year marks as well as first term, second year marks in your application (though, the criteria includes more than just grades). Therefore, to maximize your chances of getting your top picks, you should keep your marks relatively healthy
3. Scholarships: most of the scholarships offered by the school, including major awards and merit based awards have the condition of an 80% average. It is important to get that 80, especially if you have a renewable scholarship.
4. Part of being a commerce student means no failed courses. A failed course will land you in academic probation.
5. Curves & course averages: don’t be discouraged by poor performance on mid terms. Often times a mid term examination may be exceptionally difficult. The key is to not label such a course as a lost cause. Chances are that everyone performed poorly. In these cases, the Prof. will account for the difficulty in the mid term in the final exam. Keep in mind that courses will usually end with a mid 70 average.
6. Benefits of Dean’s List: Some employers have strong interests in students who are on the Dean’s List/Dean’s w/ distinction. This is essentially the honour roll at 80%/85% respectively. It certainly doesn’t hurt your chances of finding prime employment.
7. Courses requiring experience: There are a few courses in art-sci which allow students to enroll without the pre-reqs if they have the required background experience. Often times, the lecturer will have the final say in your enrollment. They will most likely take a look at your transcript to see if you can handle the work load since it may require extra effort for you to complete the course without prerequisite knowledge, depending on your level of experience.

I’m sure there are a few more that I can’t recall at this moment. I’ll update this list if things popup.

Now, I know it’s easy to say that you should maintain your marks, but how can it be achieved? In most cases, it has to do with discipline. Setting a schedule that works for you and finding an environment where you can study without disruption is key. If you are struggling with a course, go to the tutorials! You’ll have opportunities to go through further review as well as the opportunity to pose questions to the TA. You can also receive heavily subsidized tutoring from BrainTrust (tutoring service run through ComSoc).

Again, I’m not suggesting that you become a workaholic and to sacrifice all that you enjoy in life. Find that balance. Enjoy first year, it goes by fast. If you end up in the 70’s, you’re doing just fine. If you’re in the 80’s, you’re golden.

I’ll write another post later about ComSoc involvement as a first year  - definitely don’t want to miss the boat on these opportunities, as well as another on a studying/scheduling system that may work for you.

Hope this helps.

Q: I was wondering what kind of laptop you got first year. I’ve been looking at a few computers, but I’m not a techie so I have no idea if they would be good purchases or not!

A: I bought an HP Pavillion laptop that I bought the summer before first year. I got mine custom made (aka customized to my needs) on the HP website. If you want my honest opinion, buying a laptop isn’t really you can consult other people. You know what YOU want in a computer and no one else can tell you that. Since I don’t know your preferences when using a computer, eg. do you want lots of harddrive space for movies/music/pictures? or do you want something with lots of RAM because you play computer games etc. Because I can’t tell you those things, I can’t tell you if a computer is “good” or not. I would highly suggest looking at your usual practices when it comes to going on the computer and then deciding what you need. If you get it customized through the company web store then I definitely recommend that; I know Sony and HP both offer those options. Its much better than buying one through Futureshop or whatever because you know exactly what you’re getting for the price you’re paying. One thing I do recommend though is buying a good quality computer. It doesn’t have to be expensive, just well made. You will learn that when you speak to people who are currently using laptops and asking them what they think of theirs.

When you start classes you will hear tons of stories of people whose computers crashed during essays or exam time and lost all of the data. Its never happened to me before with my HP and I’ve had it since first year. Also, depending on your financial abilities, you may or may not need to update during your 4 years. I never had to buy a new computer as this one works fine, but I know some people have had to because their computers broke down even just after a year.

And one more thing, you don’t need that many hours for battery, only if you think you will be outside studying all day. Libraries, Goodes and most ArtSci buildings have outlets you can just plug in your cord. And as for getting a small/light computer. Keep in mind you’re going to be working on it basically ALL of your waking hours, so make sure you’re getting a computer you’d feel comfortable using for hours and hours and hours.  I hope that somewhat answers your question…

Q: Would you recommend an on campus job first year? I got offered the work-study program and apparently I’m allowed to chose the hours I want to work. I have had one through my gr 12 year and personally I love having extra money on hand, but I’m not sure if it would take away from my academics, if I kept the working to 4-6 hours a week?

A: I’ve never had a part-time job in university, but my housemates both have and they seem to be doing well. Plus the hours that you’re putting into work really isn’t much when you sum up the number of hours in a week. You can definitely make a part-time job and school balance out well.

Q: Any key things you wished you brought into residence first year? I’m making a list!

A: Two things I recommend: a mini-fridge and a fan. And get both during the back to school sale at the end of August/beginning of September. I thought I didn’t need a mini-fridge so I didn’t get one during the sale, but come October/November and I wanted to keep food in my room for midnight snacks, I wasn’t able to, so I went out and bought a super expensive fridge. And a fan is a must because no matter which res you get put into (unless its the nicer ones like Watts or Leggett), ventilation is almost nonexistent.