Halloween is so old, we are not even sure who started celebrating it first. It probably began in Celtic speaking countries (modern United Kingdom) and has originated from ancient harvest rituals and the celebration of the Celtic New Year, which Celts believed to be a magical time, when the dead would “sneak in” from the spirit-realm and wander around the Earth, like so 😉 Celts used to lit huge bonfires to drive the dead spirits away.

When Romans invaded Britain, roughly 2000 years ago, they’ve merged this holiday with their own – Feralia (Roman festival celebrating the dead and deceased). It is interesting to note that other cultures, halfway around the globe, also celebrated their dead at this time of the year. For example – Day of the Dead in Mexico (Dia de Muertos). Last Bond movie portrays this holiday in the opening scene.

Merging these two traditions (evil spirits walking the streets and celebrating the dead) has given the modern Halloween such a colorful and playful character.

What is “trick or treat”?

Again, several versions on this one. Probably comes from a tradition from the medieval times, when poor would go from door to door asking for food or money in exchange for prayers honoring the dead (since Halloween was about celebrating the people who passed away).

Another version comes from an ancient belief that souls of the dead were wondering around in the night and needed to be appeased. Giving gifts and/or food was a way of doing that.

Halloween came to the USA during the immigration wave from Ireland and England in the late nineteenth century. It quickly became a popular holiday all across the USA.

Today, we celebrate Halloween as an opportunity to unwind and laugh, play jokes on our colleagues and have a good time. That’s precisely why Halloween has spread across the world – everyone can have fun in their own way.

Since sweet treats are such a big part of Halloween, we’d like to share an absolutely insane looking witch finger cookies recipe with you. It blew our minds at the office, made our celebrations that tiny bit more exciting 🙂 Enjoy!

P.S. Oh, right! We wanted to show you the real monster living at Nerdify 🙂 Well, here it is:

Yep, we have a giant spider living inside our office! This adorable beauty is called Nick (weird name for a spider, I know). That’s a tarantula and, theoretically, it can eat a small bird or a mouse! In reality, though, Nick is really shy and actually quite lazy. Pretty much sits all day in the corner and kills an unfortunate bug once a week (that part is exciting to watch). We have him in the office to keep our Nerds “on the edge” if you know what I mean 😛

Happy Halloween everyone!

Hey there! What a lovely day to enjoy new Nerdify reviews post. Ready to unleash your bad habits and fight them?

It’s already December and soon enough you gonna think of new resolutions to make. College is a challenging time, which always comes with risks of really bad academic troubles that we all seem to go through from time to time. There are new challenges, unknown environment, too much studying, and the joy of youth kicking in, so it is only natural that you try to cut the corners and find an easy way out! Nevertheless, it is important to take care of your college life and do your best to ditch the bad academic habits.

1. The Art of Procrastination

Procrastination problem is what most students face on a daily basis as soon as the battle of deadlines versus the fun times starts! There is a movie that you definitely want to see or a party that you want to join early to meet your best friend or even a blog post that you want to read. This is when procrastination gets in the way. Trust us, we all have been there and it is only natural to put off some difficult tasks and think that you can do it later. The best way to ditch this bad habit is writing down a list of the “urgent” and “not so urgent” tasks in two columns. This way you can get more focused at tasks at hand and organize your time in a more efficient way!

2. Junk Food Problem

While it is tasty, quick, and you do not have to spend way too much time cooking, junk food can become a bad academic habit that comes up as soon as you start the college and try to get through the myriad of tasks. You run around, you catch a bite here and there, you talk to your friends as you eat, run around in the park, still chewing something. Sounds familiar? Add the late night pizza and Chinese takeouts to the list and you risk making all the healthcare specialists sad and angry! If there is a kitchen in your college room, start cooking your own simple food and check with your college friends to share the tips and get the best recipes. Moreover, stick to more accurate dining times and make sure that a time when you eat something is not in the middle of another task!

3. Using “you know”, “like” and “totally” When You Speak.

Now that you are about to become a skilled professional, your task is to work at the social skills and strive for academic success. You have to learn how to speak in a professional way and get rid of all the rubbish words and slang. We all get this “you know” and “like” bugs in our sentences, yet getting rid of these words can be really helpful. Just give it a bit more thought and learn to breathe! They call them “the filler words” because they are used to fill the space when you do not know what to say or when your lack of confidence comes through. Instead of using all these words, try to think and learn to talk at a slower pace, allowing yourself to focus on a subject and remember all the important information. This way the people will listen to you and know that you are experienced and have sufficient knowledge.

4. Ignoring College Group Projects

While far not everyone is guilty of this bad academic habit, it still exists and can be damaging to your college success, future resume, and a list of strong social skills that you definitely should have. Think of the group work where some people seem to do it all for the others while you just sit and watch. Do not be like one of such students and take an active role! Show some good work ethics and find a golden medium between a laid-back attitude and being a control freak. Be open to suggestions, yet learn to speak your opinion. It is a group project after all and everyone should do their best to be responsible and contribute!

5. The King of the Party

Sometimes it seems that it is not possible to survive through college without partying! While some of this is true since you do not have to turn nerdy and geeky being stuck in a college room with the books all the time, you have to remember of all the important deadlines and organize your parties (and the ones you want to join) wisely, so it does not affect your academic schedule and the other commitments. Make a party something to look forward to with no dark shadows from the tasks you have not finished yet!  Even if you are a king of the party and like to have fun, remember that you can do both, if you manage your time and the plans!

6. You Bite More Than You Can Swallow: Doing Too Much at Once!

It is no wonder that an endless list of homework to do, confusing classes, and all the extra-curricular activities can make things a little bit too difficult! As a result, you may get a bad habit of trying to do it all at once. You start multi-tasking and aim for finishing several tasks at the same time. You may be a member of several clubs and you try to join two or more group projects, yet you start noticing that you are stressed out and anxious. It is a normal reaction of your mind and body to biting more than you can swallow. The solution is to take one step at a time and form a daily timetable to make sure that you give your best to each task. When you cannot do your best in a club or fail your friends by not being there, thinking of a next activity, it is never any good!

7. Bad Sleeping Habits

This is definitely one of the worst habits a college student may get! It is also one of the most challenging problems to get rid of! As your sleeping habits get worse and start to affect your grades and health in general, there are several ways to stay away from trouble! Schedule some morning time at the college gym, for example, or team up with your roommate by making plans for a specified time. This way you can keep quiet when you have to study and party hard when you both feel like it! Make sure to go to bed at the right time and remember that sleeping is important even when you feel energetic.

8. The Lack of Fashion

Maybe not really a bad academic habit, but it still makes a certain impression about you! The talk is about a lack of fashion or a specific fashion a college student may have. Think of your favorite t-shirt and the sweatpants that you just put on and let go. While it is quite convenient, it makes you look stressed out and not so professional. Choose the clothes that make you look stylish and professional, making it clear that you care for your outfit. Once people notice that you care for the way you look, you are no longer “that college student”, but a “bright and motivated person”!

9. Spending Too Much Time Online

Not exclusively a college student’s bad problem, the time we spend online is more harmful to your life and success when you have to study and get the good grades. We often tell ourselves that “five more minutes” won’t make a difference and scroll down to another post on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Yet, it all takes time! Just make your online presence useful for your future major by making your profile look professional and combine your social networks knowledge and skills with the exploration of a subject that you study!

10. Getting Rid of Laziness

Laziness is always a trouble for a college student and basically anyone who tries to reach some progress and grow as a person! Do not waste your time for the meaningless and dull things that just take your time and teach you nothing. Join social clubs, get involved in volunteering, and explore the opportunities that a college life offers! Do not sit locked in your college room, meet people, smile to others, have fun at the party, share your knowledge, experience, and skills, and learn how to make new friends! Do not be lazy because listening to this bad habit is actually stealing your own life!

Take care and stay motivated,

Nerdify reviews team

Nerdify reviews team strikes again! 

If you haven’t tried educational podcasts yet, it’s high time to choose podcasts to ease your learning. With your academic success in my mind, Nerdify reviews top-10 podcasts that raise learning to a whole new level! So, fasten your seatbelts, and we’ll start!

For those of you who do not have a clue what a podcast is, we strongly recommend consulting a dictionary, where you’ll learn that podcast is “a broadcast that is placed on the Internet who wants to listen to it or watch it.” Sounds boring? At all! These ten podcasts will change your perception of learning as a tiresome process!

1. TED Talks Daily

It’s probably the best podcast one could ever imagine! Every weekday, a new episode is waiting for your attention! What are these episodes about? Well, I can’t imagine a topic that hasn’t been discussed in TED Talks! Social problems, zoology, archeology, artificial intelligence…The whole vibrant world is just a click away!

2. School Psyched!

In the upcoming study year, Anna, Rachael, and Rebecca will be your best friends! Reasons? No doubt, they are enormously cool!!! Just imagine three ladies discussing a myriad of educational topics, starting with time management and to ADHD strategies. Willing to join the conversation? Then, be ready to find yourself in the company of outstanding personalities like Dr. Richard A. Cash. You’ll definitely like Dr. Cash for he’s got a wealth of experience as an international education consultant.

3. The Knowledge Project

What is the Knowledge Project about? Well, it’s a pretty tricky question; so, I’d better tell you what it is not about. The Knowledge Project is not about…boredom:)

The Knowledge Project is ready to introduce you to dozens of great people, and they are waiting to share the secret of their success with you!

Test the coolness of the Knowledge Project by starting with:

• Life Lessons from a Self-Made Billionaire: My Conversation with Ray Dalio
• Getting Better by Being Wrong, a conversation with Annie Duke, former professional poker player and an author of the book Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts
• The Science of Doing Good with William MacAskill, the co-founder and President of the Centre for Effective Altruism.

4. Back to Work

I can bet that the talk show with Merlin Mann and David Benjamin will completely grab your attention! So, be aware that conversations about productivity, communication, and time management are so exciting that you can easily lose track of your time when listening to them:)        

5. WorkLife with Adam Grant

Good conversations are never enough, and Adam Grant is ready to discuss a bunch of interesting topics with you.! Did you know that people spend around a quarter of their life at work? Some of them are happy with the fact, while others are not. If you are one of those unfortunate, you’ll want to learn about things that make a workplace great. By dissecting the world’s coolest workplaces, Adam Grant comes up with a series of worthy suggestions:

• trust people
• don’t be afraid of criticism
• understand your hidden personality

Everything that makes one a happy worker is at your disposal in WorkLife with Adam Grant podcast!

6. Revisionist History

History is terra incognita, but you’ll definitely enjoy discovering hidden events or reexamining misinterpreted ones if you have Malcolm Gladwell as a guide.  Gladwell is the author of the bestseller Outliers, so he’s probably the best companion in your travel along intricate historical trails!

Could you imagine that: “Saigon, 1965 is the story of three people who got caught up in that effort: a young Vietnamese woman, a refugee from Nazi Germany, and a brilliant Russian émigré. All saw the same things. All reached different conclusions. The Pentagon effort, run by the Rand Corporation, was one of the most ambitious studies of enemy combatants ever conducted — and no one could agree on what it meant.”?

In case you couldn’t, just keep in mind that Malcolm Gladwell has many more historical discoveries for you!

7. The Guardian’s Science Weekly

Everyone is familiar with the British news outlet called The Guardian, but a few know that they produce The Guardian’s Science Weekly. It is, without any exaggeration, an awesome project that will show you the world of science from a totally unexpected angle! Heatwaves, biomimicry, radiophobia, killing asbestos, and e-cigarettes are just a small portion of discussions that won’t leave you indifferent!

8. Moving at the Speed of Creativity

Moving at the speed of creativity is all you need this study year! It is a truly awesome podcast where you can learn about “education, twenty-first-century literacy, blended learning, technology integration, and educational leadership.” Being part of a vibrant intellectual community is the best experience one can ever have!

9. Mixed Mental Arts

Mixed Mental Arts will teach you…stealing! But don’t be scared; you’ll steal “the best cultural software from everywhere and apply the core principle of Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do. Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.” In other words, Mixed Mental Arts will teach you to be an efficient personality in this turbulent world!

BTW, of all the mentioned podcasts, Mixed Mental Arts has the most extensive content. So, you’re guaranteed to have an exciting time browsing through it!

10. 101 Series – Innovative Language!

Good news for those who are waiting for Monday to start learning a foreign language! With 101 Series – Innovative Language! there are no more excuses to keep language studies on the back burner! Choose from hundreds of audio and video lessons, pdf notes and flashcards to notice progress from the very first lesson!  

Nerdify reviews team has piled dozens of podcasts here to provide all the information that you need to succeed. Learning is always fun if you have the right tools in your hand!