$100,000 to Not Go to University

University is expensive and with the coalition government's new plans (in the UK), it's going to get much, much more costly. But, what are the alternatives? You need a degree to be successful, right? Wrong. Here is a list of billionaires who never attended university, or dropped out before finishing their degree:

Bill Gates - Co-founder and ex-chairman of Microsoft. Net worth: $54billion.

Michael Dell - Founder of Dell inc. Net worth: $14billion.

Mark Zuckerberg - CEO of Facebook. Net worth: $6.9billion.

Steve Jobs - CEO of Apple. Net worth: $6.1billion.

Sir Richard Branson - Founder of the 'Virgin Group'. Net worth: $5billion.

Ralph Lauren - Founder of Polo Ralph Lauren. Net worth: $4.6billion.

A longer list can be seen here. 

Great. Now, Tell Me About the $100k.

Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal, is supporting young entrepreneurs with his new Thiel Fellowship.

What Is The Thiel Fellowship?

The Thiel Fellowship is a program where 20 people, under the age of 20, are given $100,000 to dedicate their time to creating and implementing a brilliant idea. Thiel talks about how,

some of the world's most transformational technologies were created by people who stopped out of school because they had ideas that couldn't wait until graduation.

His whole idea is that people should not let education get in the way of a fantastic idea. It's a really great premise, and I totally agree; for many great solutions, spending 3+ years and thousands of dollars/pounds at university is just a complete waste of time. The problem, up until now, is giving potential students a reason to risk their future (if their plan goes belly-up) by missing out on higher education. Although this program is only available to 20 lucky entrepreneurs, it should bring hope to thousands more.

I'd like to end this post with a quote from the aforementioned Bill Gates:

I failed in some subjects at school, but my friend passed in all. Now he is an engineer in Microsoft and I am the owner of Microsoft.

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AirPort Express: Ideal for a College Dorm Room

I was pondering thoughts and this brilliant idea came across my mind. Let me first say that I do not own an AirPort Express, nor am I a college student. I am currently using a Linksys wireless router and am currently in my Junior year of high school. So, why is the Airport Express ideal for a college dorm room or apartment?

First, the amount of space the thing takes up is so minimal and you can really put it anywhere. Dorm rooms are very tiny, but you will, without a doubt, find room for this tiny 3.7 x 2.95 x 1.12 inch device. It only weighs 7.4 ounces!

Secondly, the main feature of this device, the wireless internet router. Sure, you might be saying, "Why the heck would you need wireless internet in such a small room?" Here's why. College students are usually either lazy or tired, meaning they don't want to bother with all of the wires or having to sit at their desk to be online. Wouldn't they love to be able to relax on their bed and still be able to connect to Facebook? Or maybe they want to watch a movie online and they don't want to watch it at their desk. The point is, is that in a dorm room you don't want to be restricted to one place where you can use the internet.

Thirdly, the capability to print wirelessly. Most know that colleges don't make enough room on the desks for a printer and usually students have to physically pick up the printer and move it when they want to print. With the AirPort Express you can print wirelessly so you don't have to deal with cords not being long enough. It's also quite ridiculous for you and your roommate both to have individual printers in the same room. With the AirPort Express, you can share the same printer with your roommate and possibly even keep the printer under the bed and out of the way. You will also cut down on ink cartridge costs by sharing a printer and splitting the price.

Fourthly, everybody likes listening to music and how awesome would that be to play music from your computer wirelessly! Another cord elimination! Students can just hang around the dorm room playing music from iTunes and streaming it to speakers that can be all the way at the other side of the room. You can also control the music from an iPod touch or iPhone which is another awesome feature.

Fifthly, almost anybody can use it! Whether you are using a Mac or a PC you can still use this amazing device. As long as your computer has a wireless card in it and a somewhat modern operating system you can use the AirPort Express.

Well, I covered some pretty awesome features (if I may say so, myself). You can use internet wirelessly, print wirelessly, listen to music wirelessly, all from this tiny device that almost anybody with an updated computer could use. What do you think? Do you agree that the AirPort Express would be great to have in a dorm room? Let me know!