Work From Your Dorm: Getting Started (Getting Started Book 1)

on orders over $25—or get FREE Two-Day Shipping with Amazon Prime Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser . read for any one in college or anyone trying to work with college aged people in their mom businesses. The theme of the book relates to starting a direct marketing, home, or dorm-based business.
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Now, however, all you need to do is say, "Alexa, enable To demonstrate this, I'll show you how to enable the single most important skill for student life: First, start by saying , "Alexa, enable Dominos. I knew you could. As you use these two apps, be aware that Pizza Hut has far better wings than Dominos. But Dominos has Stuffed Cheesy Bread with spinach and feta.

I'm telling you, this is what we call a full-service article. I promise I'll get to some educational resources, but what you really need if you're living in a dorm room is to be prepared for what life throws at you now that you're on your own. You may not realize it now, but right after ordering pizza, the next most important thing to be able to do is win an argument about a board game. It's 2 am, you and your neighbors are all gathered in the little cove in the middle of the dorm avoiding homework, and somebody makes some outlandish claim about how many people can play Monopoly or who goes first in Scrabble.

There's no need for an argument. Instead, tell Alexa to enable board games, and then ask away.


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For example, you might say, "Alexa, ask board games how many people can play Monopoly. There will be no more fighting, and you can go on to take Board Walk and Park Place.

Back to school with Alexa: The ultimate guide

My strategy was always to get the utilities and the railroads. Don't try for hotels; they're strategically overrated. Just put houses on as many properties as you can and build from there. If you need to travel home by air during the holidays, Alexa can help you out.

If you want to know how long you're going to have to wait in a security line , enable "security lines" and ask: Speaking of travel, if you need a ride to the airport, Alexa can help. Enable the Uber or Lyft skill , then set your dorm as the default pickup location, and when it's time to go home don't forget to bring all your laundry , you can say, "Alexa, ask Uber to request a ride" or "Alexa, ask Lyft for a ride.

Of course, music is one of the things Alexa does really well. You can also play tunes from your own Amazon My Music Library, or turn the can into a Bluetooth speaker. Beyond tunes, you can have your Alexa read to you from Audible, and even from some audio-enabled Kindle books.


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When writing papers, it can be helpful to get word definitions, spelling, and synonyms. Ask "Alexa, define hippocampus" to get a definition. Ask "Alexa, what is the spelling of enlighten" to get the spelling of a word. Ask "Alexa, what is the synonym of education" to get words that mean roughly the same thing. If you want an antonym or a rhyme, you'll need to enable the skill "word box," and then say, "Alexa, ask word box for an antonym for excited.

When Alexa first came out, its list synchronization was pretty anemic. But with the addition of skills, you can link to list managers like AnyList my family's personal favorite , Cozi , and Picniic. You can also link to to-do list apps like Todoist and Any.

2. GET A HUTCH

One challenge we have with our shared Alexa is that sometimes the list managers don't work with the right account. So don't forget to say "Alexa, switch to David's account" or your name to add list items to the right account. I use Alexa a lot when doing calculations. I prefer not to pull up my calculator for simple math calculations, so asking Alexa to add, subtract, multiply, and divide comes in handy. Alexa has a wide variety of calculator skills, including a scientific calculator, a distance calculator, a significant figures calculator, an area calculator, a time difference calculator, and I kid you not Hey, fish and game majors will find this valuable.

Top 10 Tricks for Organizing Your Dorm Room — Abell Organizing

This is a good time to show you how to find the Alexa Skills search engine. My favorite way is point my browser to alexa. When you first enter the Skills section, you can choose a category. It's a bit unfortunate that Education and Reference are lumped together, because there are a tremendous number of slightly silly reference skills like Mega Millions Numbers and Sneaker Release Dates.

How to become an Alexa developer: A cheat sheet TechRepublic. That said, there are also many helpful skills. Spend the time to dig through, and you'll find translation tools, this day in history skills, and my favorite: Alexa connections to courseware like Curiosity and Great Courses Plus. There are a great many Alexa Skills.


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If you're looking for school specific resources, type "college" into the search engine, and you'll see that some colleges have created their own skills. Type in "reference" for many different reference resources. Type in "math" or "science" for science-related skills. One of my biggest challenges in college was the 8 am calculus classes I had.

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I don't know why they needed to be that cruel, but the math department seemed to revel in scheduling calculus for before any coffee had a chance to settle in. To plan for that, you can set all manner of timers with Alexa. Purchase a hutch for your desk - it will help you to maximize the wall space and provide a place for all of your books and school work.

We bought a used one from a friend and painted it for our daughter Erin pictured below.

Make them your new best friend. There are lots of great ways you can use them all around your dorm room, and since you aren't supposed to use nails in the walls, you can use Command hooks and then take them down without damaging the walls when it is time to move out. You can purchase them just about everywhere - buy more than you think you need and return those that you don't end up using.

Be sure to carefully read and follow the instructions on the package! Hang one by your door to corral your keys - you will never lose them again! Command Poster Strips are great for hanging all of your artwork. Use a heavy duty Command Hook to hang your backpack or purse. Purchase several plastic shoe boxes and fill with the following many of these products can be purchased at the Dollar Store to save money:. There are several ways that you can utilize the wonderful space under your bed!

Usually there is a choice to bunk the beds, but few students chose to do that. You can also loft the bed, where the bed is raised and the desk is placed under it. Usually you can check with the school to see if lofts are available to rent. We chose to purchase a loft with our first college student, since we have 4 kids. If you think it will be something that you might need to rent for more than one year, consider buying one and then resell it on Craigslist when you don't need it any more.

A compromise is to raise your bed enough to use the storage under it but not all the way up to loft-height. You can do this by either putting the frame of the bed on the highest setting most university bed frames are adjustable or by placing the bed on cinder blocks very inexpensive at Home Depot which are sturdy. You can also use these risers - they will raise the bed high enough to store some tubs where you can keep extra towels, clothes, and things you don't use very often. Every school is different, so if possible check out what other students are doing before you move in to get ideas.

Once you have decided which options to choose, there are several great ways to use the space for extra storage. Before you buy anything, make sure to measure so you know exactly how much space you have to work with. Also, if you decide to raise the height of your bed, consider buying a storage cube to use as a stepstool for getting on your bed! Also adds some great storage our daughter kept water bottles in hers.

These Elfa drawers pictured left from the Container Store are a little more expensive, but they are very sturdy and can be repurposed after graduation in your dream closet! I also like these plastic drawers - they are less expensive than the Elfa drawers and very versatile. Once you get your bed raised, consider also storing your laundry hamper or basket underneath. One of our kids was able to get their bed high enough to put the mini-fridge under it.

Make sure that you are prepared on the day of move-in for all of your electronic needs. Some universities, due to fire codes, do not allow extension cords in dorm rooms. You can usually get around this rule by bringing extra surge protectors , and here is one that has an extra long lead cord. Don't forget cords for your television and DVD player if you have one. You might also want to have a cord for extending the cable hook-up so that you have greater flexibility on where to place the TV in your room. Because most dorm rooms don't have very many outlets, another great thing to get are some outlet adapters that convert a double outlet into 6.

These aren't very expensive and are very handy to have on hand. I know that I've already mentioned plastic drawers for under-the-bed storage, but they also work really well as a printer stand or bedside table. These smaller plastic drawers are great on your desk for sharpies, highlighters, sticky notes, and getting your accessories organized.

InterMetro Tower set up as a "Kitchen Zone". Your dorm room will most likely have an area dedicated to your snacks, coffee, and fridge possibly a microwave if they are allowed. Talk with your roommate, if you have one, about what each of you will contribute. It is great if you plan for some type of shelving unit to use in this area. These metal shelves are adjustable and very sturdy.

Make sure to measure before you purchase, so that it will fit in your dorm space!