Well, one trip to Goodwill later ends up with buying several shot glasses, a pilsner glass, Christmas lights, and to finish it up...

a party bucket with Budweiser logo!

Now since we made a post a little while back about our exploits with bottle caps, we are temporarily storing every one of the 300+ caps in our party bucket. It also acts as a makeshift cap bucket to toss our caps into. Allow the party to commencerate!

Adding pictures later from my actual machine. You won't believe how awesome it is for the low, low Goodwill price of $1! Cheers.

Well the community has been wanting it for quite a while, and Phreak has rumored they are reading the posts. Just about every refresh on LoL's forums will show a post with numerous examples as to how Vladimir is severely underpowered and overlooked by other Ability Power based champions: Will Riot buff him in the next few patches?

Today, 01:18 PM So lets compare them: Lane: Vladmir main source of damage is his Transfusion (Q) and Tides of Bloods (E), both of which have very low range, in the laning phase. Compared to other mages his early game is very weak. His Q is on a High CD so, so he can't spam it, and his E doesn't do nearly as much damage to be noticeable,unless you spam it until 4 stacks,in which case your going to be low on health most of the time. All the other mages have better poke,farm,etc. The only thing that vlad can do better is escaping ganks with his Sanguine Pool (W), or as I call it the trollpool.  Teamfight: This really depend on whos farmed more, but it doesn't even matter really when we're talking about Vlad. He will usually just be an AP off tank. He's not like Brand or Annie where they burst, then come back and do it again. He's like an sustained kind of fighter. The only reason why he is still able to teamfight is his pool, which keeps him alive in teamfights. He has to get so close to use his skills, so most of the time you will be like Q>E>R>W>Q>E then die. His teamfight is only good if you can ult atleast 3 of them and stay in teamfights for a while. If you can't stay in a teamfight, then your pretty much a burden to your team. Usually AP casters will do more damage than you in teamfights,since there so short. Utility: This isn't even a contest. Annie, and Orianna have a AoE stun, Brand has a stun,which isn't much, but makes up for it with his damage. What does Vladmir have? He has a slow. Now this is good if you can slow 5 of them, but unless you have a good team right as soon you come up from your pool, you will get focused and die. Vlad doesn't offer as much utility as other mages. Survivability: There's not much to say about Vlad's survivability. Since Vlad has to get upclose to do some damage his survivability is really low. For a person that doesn't bulid tanky, to have to get up close to do damage you can bet your going to get focus the moment you get up from your pool, or when your walking into the teamfight.

Yes, ketchup does work wonders for a quick fishing trip. There isn't much to it. Say for instance, your lure and hook are a little dull. That's bad, you think to yourself, the fishies can't see my death grasp.

I know! I'll clean it with some polishing chemicals. No, you will not. Those chemicals deter fish from going anywhere near your lure. That's bad.

Use ketchup fellows. The slight acidic composition will clean off anything on your rod. I mean anything, previous bait, catches, dog biscuits, dollar bill residue, anything. Plus, it leaves your lure tasty fresh for future catches.

Just a couple packets in your tackle box and you're set. Or don't and sit in that lake wondering why the fish won't bite after you irradiated their environment with your cleaning supplies.

As we at College DownTime are based in Las Vegas, we figured we would do a little piece on some of the mostly-unknown tips to saving on car insurance. This is especially important for registering your vehicle in Las Vegas, as the city is deemed "24/7 driving," meaning the insurance companies want to charge you for more insurance since LV has constant traffic. Let us get started.

1) For married folks: Combine your individual cars onto one policy. This is fairly standard, but it is still surprising to hear of folks complaining how marriage ADDS more costs than it saves. Read up.

2) Where you live: Las Vegas has quite a few areas that have a higher crime. If you live in a high-density neighborhood, you WILL be paying more. Congestion means more money. Hint: Don't move to North Las Vegas if you have the choice. This site lists crime per area in LV, use it.

3) Pay ahead of time: If you pay the full 6-12 months at once, you get a slight discount. This is usually somewhere around 1-3% with a good company.

4) Deductible amount: Know what you are covered under and decide if you want to opt for a higher deductible. Higher deductible means less per month, but more if you actually need to use your insurance. Depending on where you live in Las Vegas, this could be terrible to do.

5) Pass driver's education: Show your little certificate if you are a student and usually you will get 5% off. This could be your best way to save money fast.

6) I can drive: Always be the driver of your car. Unless you are tighter than Joanie and Chachi, do not pan your keys off to someone.

7) Where you park: If you live in an apartment or complex that uses a garage, put it on your policy. You will get quite a bit off due to less risk of vandalism and weather.

8) Show off your degree: There is a good chance a college degree will lessen your costs.

9) Work and play: Live close to your workplace, it will make you less stressful and most companies lessen your insurance rates.

Overall, there is always the standard: Don't drive stupid, update your vehicle, keep it registered, and don't steal gas. I know we all have genius ideas on how to get away with it, but you'll lose your license way fast. Though if I were to steal gas, I'd frame someone explicitly and get out of the state ASAP.

Always carry extra DNA and clear tape with random fingerprints, there is always a use.

Some of my trading funds had cleared up a bit (meaning I sold before I lost my shirt), and now I am back to researching and gathering information for my next trade. I have yet to make a Scottrade account for the Level 2 quotes (and I'm not even sure if Scottrade's L2 is good for penny stocks) so I was in need of some other way of knowing the real-time price of a stock I am watching.

No, we aren't talking about this plastic ship, that is waaaayyyy too complex. Nope, the idea here is to make a raft, or possibly a couch, out of old plastic bottles and containers with nothing more than duct tape, maybe some wire, and rubber cement. This is a bit of a long-term project, so for now I'll just show you how I began the project.

First, you have to get a boatload of bottles. This can probably be done in a day if you walk around town. Or, if you are like my family, you consume so many bottles you have a separate trash collection can called "recyclables," but is in fact simply used to store post-consumption waste. Clean them out and get ready to seal them off. If you don't feel like cleaning, you can still make a raft...a raft of uncleanliness!

I use rubber cement on the bottle threads and then twist it shut. Rubber cement has got to be the best glue for most of CDT's projects. I use it for all purposes, not just projects. Pens are so hard to hold onto, so just apply a little to your digits and profit!  That bowl of Cheetos just will not stay on your belly? Apply a little to your pectorals and profit! Hungry, and there is just nothing that can satisfy your desire for an amorphous, flammable liquid? Stop. Do not taste it, not without a little salt first.

Sometimes you will not have the caps, because let's face it: remembering is hard. If it was easy, I'd remember some allusion to something historical and make it sound witty in this sentence. Therefore, I found the best way of sealing off topless bottles is to get some duct tape, tear off a strip, and then seal up with hot glue. Seal the glue all around the bottle top's edge making sure it is waterproof. Or not, and let your raft sink, it's not like I care.

One attempt today is to figure out how to seal together several bottles to make pieces I will use to assemble the raft. I need to make larger pieces of similar sizes to get some consistency in the assembly, otherwise it just takes too much time taping each piece together individually. Let's see how it goes. Cheers, and good luck.

Continued from the other day, we're listing some decent and cheap trading sites. Now understand that since these are cheap to trade on, your best bet is to do your own DD outside and only use their site to make your trades. A trade from any of these sites = a trade from any highly advertised site. Since every complete trade needs two fees (purchase/sell), these sites save you at least $10 per complete trade. This is great since you're probably not playing with much to begin with.

                                      Level 2 Stock Quotes from 06/21/11

You've heard about it from your crazy, eccentric uncle plenty of times and now you want to learn how to do it on your own. Well we've tested wine making quite a few times and have come up with a cheap way for you college students to do it also while still leaving you with beer money for later. At the end of the article, check out the pics of our mead from last semester.

Below are the ingredients and prep you'll need to start your first batch. However, the most important factor in making your very own wine is patience. A decent batch takes about a month to ferment and settle, while an above-average batch will take at least six weeks.

Now we're starting. You'll need:
1) A one gallon jug of the cheapest water you can find. I prefer ones with huge caps because it'll be easier to stuff your ingredients through and takes less time to pour out later.

2) Your main sugar. Yeast eats sugar and leaves alcohol as its waste. For mead you use honey. Essentially any sugar-water content will work, but honey is typical for home brews. This is your most expensive ingredient as well. Don't buy any fancy honey unless you want to impress others, it all ends up the same. Grape juice works, as well as any other high-sugar juice. Just make sure you don't use juice with preservatives (anything with sorbate, nitrate, etc. listed)

3) Your flavor additives. I've used oranges, lemons, blackberries, raspberries, raisins (ALWAYS INCLUDE RAISINS - they're already fermenting!), and cherries. High-sugar fruits work great as they give more food for the yeast. Experiment with fruit combos too. Raisins and lemons are almost standard, but I prefer more tart fruit for an awesome flavor.

4) The yeast. Dry-packet yeast is great and for $1.25 you get three packets. Protip: use specific wine yeast for better alcohol content and flavor.

5) Random flavorings/yeast nutrients. You can buy Yeast Nutrient anywhere specialty foods are and it is also available online. It is not needed, but it can turn a decent wine into something great. However, tea is a great alternative. Yeast likes tannin and tea is full of it. Plus, the tea adds some complexity that will impress wine appreciators, should you show off.

All this stuff is available at any average dining commons on campus, except the yeast. If you live in campus dorms, wear a jacket or bring a pack. You pay for the food, why not use them to make yourself some tasty libations?

Ready to brew? I thought so. Grab your gallon jug, dump half the water into a container for later (you will need it to top off the batch). You will need 3-5 lbs of your sugar-water substance, like honey, maple syrup, molasses, etc. More sugar = a sweeter, stronger wine. 3 lbs honey per gallon is a little dry, but 4 lbs is perfect for a normal batch. I usually use 4 lbs. If you're using a juice instead of honey, fill the gallon jug up almost all the way, about 75% full.

Heat up the sugar before adding the yeast. It starts the fermentation faster. You want speed right? Now is also a good time to activate the yeast. Put a packet of yeast into a glass with warm water and let it sit for ten minutes. Done yet?

Toss your fruit, tea, flavorings, and anything not-yeast into the gallon jug. Make sure it's warm, not boiling. Shake it up a bit, mix it around. This makes the flavor consistent while the yeast eats it. Top it off with the water you were saving until it's at the fill line.

After mixing, finally add the yeast, man! Put a cap on and shake that thing up. Shake some more, and then let it sit with the cap off. Within an hour you'll get a nice foam building up (that's the CO2). Put the jug on some paper towels because it will start spewing out over the next few hours. Once you're confident it won't leak much anymore (three hours later), put a balloon on it with a hole punctured in the balloon to allow CO2 to escape.

Protip: you're in college and might not have balloons lying around. Use a condom. They're just lying around not being use, amirite? Ha, well just stretch one over the jug's cap and pop a hole when it fills with CO2.

Now just let it sit somewhere it won't be disturbed much. A closet, shelf, on top of your old books you can sell, where ever. Now wait a couple weeks and enjoy. Just about all the alcohol is created in the first 2 weeks, but more time = better tasting. But who am I to tell you when to drink? Let the dead yeast settle after fermenting and you'll have a clear, great tasting wine you just made.

                                       Enjoy you classy, crafty college students.