Feel like trading the cash you saved for that Prada bag to combat poverty?

No? What if you only lent the money for a few months, then got it all back in time for your next shopping spree? You’re probably thinking, “That doesn’t sound like charity.” It is, but it ain’t. It’s better. It’s a system called Kiva.

Microcharity on a budget – you really can help!
Just because your main meal is ramen noodles doesn’t mean you can’t make a difference. There’s a new form of charity in town and it’s designed for students who want to help but live on a budget! You donate just a little, but help change a lot! And best of all, you can watch the story unfold as your money slowly makes its way back to you.

That’s right – your money comes back to you. In essence, Kiva.org allows you to take the place of a bank as a lender, then recoup your “losses” as the money you lent out gets paid back to you within months.

What is this?

This is a new process called microcredit. You may have heard about it recently. The Nobel Peace Prize winner of 2006, Muhammad Yunus of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, earned the reward for globally applying his system of microcredit. Yunus constructed a way to successfully empower poor people by using his bank to secure microloans for people who would never traditionally qualify for them. By allowing these people to make small and irregular payments back to his institution, his system has become a standard for financing in the Third World.

Not only has it become a globally recognized system, but it has also become quite lucrative for banks and financial institutions to invest in! The best part is, anyone can participate!

What do I do to start microlending?

• You can visit kiva.org and have a look at people who need microloans. Perhaps pick someone whose interests or attitudes align with your own.

• Use the form on the site to send a loan using your credit card or a paypal account.

• Kiva.org directly transfers the funds you send to the local representative office of the business you choose.

• Over time, this revenue office collects small repayments from the entrepreneur you choose and sends you an update on their progress.

• When the microloan is paid back in full, the business person may apply for another with their updated microcredit rating and kiva.org gives your original money back to you electronically.

• You can withdraw your money and deposit it in your bank knowing you did your part, or you can keep the returned money in the holding account and shop for a new business to help!

How did this come to be?
Simply put – it was made possible by the advance of technology. The practice of microlending is now cost-effective due to the spread of cheap communication devices like cell phones and the internet. What used to be expensive and slow because charitable sponsorship traditionally relied on mail and courier services to do business, is now inexpensive and instantaneous. Lending is easier and more people are able to use the service. It’s a win-win situation for everyone!

How is this making a difference?
The World Bank estimates that there are now over 7000 microfinance institutions serving some 16 million poor people in developing countries. The total cash turnover of MFIs world-wide is estimated at U.S. $2.5 billion and the potential for new growth is almost unlimited.

Who else is helping out?
Thousands of people. People like Lisa from Tennessee who’s helping a man from Kenya run a store. People like Janice who is helping 16 people make better lives, because she remembers when she needed a helping hand.

Do you work to pay for school? Why not get your work buddies involved? Get your work group to pick a person in need who is trying to build a business like yours. Companies like Beauty Schools Directory donated to 8 lucky ladies across the world who were trying to start salons and beauty stores of their own. All you need is a few bucks and a computer and you’re on your way.

Put the Prada on hold for a few months – you can pay it forward and feel great!

This is a cool device. As everyone knows, laptop speakers are not exactly the loudest or clearest way to listen to audio. If you are a heavy gamer or like to watch movies on your laptop than you need to check this thing out.

At first I was a little skeptical about it, but after giving it a try I could see a benefit to using the laptop booster. It is incredibly light weight and will house any Mac to PC laptop up to 17”. The underbelly of this will keep your legs comfortable with its padded base and a sturdy top to sit the laptop on. The glowing speakers run on your laptops power giving you a boost for your games or while watching a movie.

The Laptop Sound Blaster includes a USB dock for playing your iPod, downside is that it runs on C batteries. This is the only strike against it I would say there is.
Overall, this is a nice little device. I think that there needs to be a way to run an iPod without using batteries and this would be complete.

We here at Key Magazine will be heading out shortly for our holiday break, so we want to wish everyone Happy Holidays! There probably won’t be many updates on here till early next year, but check back then, because we have some cool things coming to the site next year.

In the meantime, check out our list of things to do while on your holiday break. This isn’t your standard holiday to-do list of shopping, eating, and sleeping. Try something different for a change…

1. Start your own blog. There are lots of free blog services out there, like Wordpress and Blogger.
2. Check out www.howstuffworks.com and impress your friends and family with your newfound knowledge.
3. Get a really difficult puzzle. Example - black and white photo mosaic. Check out the wide variety of puzzles here.
4. Go through your stuff and find things to sell on ebay. Decrease clutter and make money!
5. Give something back - contact your local soup kitchen or shelter and donate food or help serve food. Spread some holiday love to the less fortunate.

Or, if none of that interests you and you just want to kill time, grab a “National Geographic” and draw underwear on the natives. But please, find your own copy. The school library might not appreciate your “art” as much as you do.

The holidays are almost here! Do you know what to expect in your stocking on Christmas morning? Our roving band of reviewers have collected a quick list of the hottest gifts to arrive under the tree. How do the items on Santa’s Top 5 stack up?

MOVIES
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End ~ Disney DVD and Blu-Ray – Johnny Depp returns as Captain Jack Sparrow in this pulse-pounding conclusion in the Pirates trilogy. Rescued from Davy Jones’ locker, Jack is forced to unite the world’s pirate lords in an all-out assault against the British Royal Navy and the cursed Flying Dutchman. The 2-Disc Collector’s Edition DVD includes some bonus features, but not a lot. Also, the film lacks a commentary track – a definite disappointment. Rating: 3 out of 5 candy canes.

MUSIC
Carnival Ride ~ Carrie Underwood – Since winning the American Idol crown in 2005, Underwood has proven that she’s more than a wannabe pop star. She took home 2 Grammys for her first album, Some Hearts. Her new album, Carnival Ride, shows her continued improvement as a vocalist. Underwood co-wrote 4 of the songs on this CD and seems to hit a new level of maturity. On Carnival Ride, she treads into some familiar territory, but her style of melding country and pop will continue to wow fans. Rating: 4 out of 5 candy canes.

BOOKS
His Dark Materials Trilogy ~ Philip Pullman – With the release of The Golden Compass on the big screen, the books that inspired the movie are getting renewed interest. The fantasy story follows Lyra, a young girl whose destiny takes her on a remarkable quest where she meets nomadic Gyptians, armored polar bears and balloon aeronauts. The books are not for kids, but teens should find them interesting, complex, and filled with wondrous mirrors of our own world. Rating: 4 out of 5 candy canes.

VIDEO GAMES
BioShock – In the underwater city of Rapture, you will find a world where science couldn’t be stopped. Undead creatures roam the corridors, where you too are trapped under the ocean. This first-person shooter from 2K Games allows you to biologically mod your body with plasmids, hack devices and systems, upgrade your weapons and craft new ammo variants. It is sure to please Xbox 360 fans, but owners of other consoles will have to settle for the PC version. Rating: 4 out of 5 candy canes.

ELECTRONICS
Apple 8 GB iPod nano – Whoever said that the best things come in small packages must have been thinking of the iPod nano. This 8GB media player now includes a larger, 320-by-240-resolution display for video. Enjoy up to 5 hours of TV shows, movies, video podcasts and other video. Or get 24 hours of music on a single charge! Thinner and sleeker than ever before, the iPod nano is perfect gift! Rating: 5 out of 5 candy canes.

When you’re a college student, winter break can be almost a month long. Returning home for such a long stretch of time can be an adjustment for the entire family. Parents may want their kids back for a traditional family Christmas, while you are anxious to catch up with high school friends and explore their independence.

But your holidays really can be happy. Here are some tips on how to keep winter break as stress-free as possible:

• Loosely pre-plan your break so that your family and friends have the right expectations about who you want to see and what you want to do over the holidays. Ask your family ahead of time what their expectations are for you.
• Understand that your parents expect to spend time with you over the holidays. Don’t disregard your family just because you haven’t had a curfew for the past 3 months.
• Be honest with your parents if your grades from the past semester aren’t as good as they should be. Get their help and support early, before things get too bad.
• Ditto if you’re blowing through your budget and have opened 2 credit cards just to stay afloat.
• Discuss what the house rules have been in the past and how they could be changed now that you’ve been dictating your own schedule (curfew-free) for a semester. Your parents should give you a little slack, but don’t forget that you are back under their roof.
• If you have a younger sibling who has gotten used to getting his way since you’ve been gone, set guidelines for things that may need to be shared: vehicle, big-screen TV, chores, etc.
• As appealing as it might sound, don’t have your mom do all your laundry, make your bed and bring you ice cream while you’re playing video games. Assert your new independence.
• If you will not be able to return home because you don’t have a good relationship with your family, are too far away, or have experienced a recent tragedy, don’t give up on the holidays. Find a friend to stay with or start your own holiday traditions.
• Save some time to relax, rejuvenate and reflect on the past year. After all, it isn’t called “break” for nothing.

Looking back on my first semester of college, what do you think is the first thing that comes to mind? Parties? Late-night study sessions? Um, yeah. For me, it’s a bright orange parka.

Every morning that first semester, I’d get up before the sun rose to bundle up in that neon orange parka and walk a mile to my job on campus. (No, I’m not completely stupid; the buses just didn’t run that early!)

First, a little background about that parka:

• I used to be an “eclectic” and unique dresser in high school. I didn’t dress freakishly. But I was willing to take a risk, considering the tiny and conservative town I lived in.
• The parka wasn’t really that warm. And it was ORANGE. Not just regular, old, everyday orange. Hunting gear orange. And it didn’t even fit that well!
• Why did I still choose to wear it? At the time, I was very easily influenced. I’d let the opinions of others affect the clothing and style I wore. I think I became a bit more boring as a result. This orange parka wasn’t boring, so it was a bit of the real me hanging on to…well…me. Oh, and I didn’t have another jacket.

Okay, so the point is this: All American kids go through the entire secondary education thing by law. College, though…that’s a matter of choice. You’re choosing to attend, and you’re choosing to do your best to succeed and achieve whatever goal you might have. Along the same lines, I obviously chose to go to college. I chose to wake up at a ridiculous hour every day to work for only an hour and a half. And I chose to wear that stupid orange parka to stand out.

And maybe I’m reaching a bit with this, but I really think those frigid walks led me to understand the extent of my choices more fully. I was finally on my own and in control of all of the consequences of my actions – whether it was some extra spending money or extra hours of sleep.

So what if people are blinded by your jacket? You need to do what’s best for you and what will take you to where you want to be. As for slipping on ice as you walk in the dark…well, that’s why it’s good to have the jacket. Easier visibility!