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Northern Star

Northern Illinois University’s student news organization since 1899

 

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The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

Local singer is dy-no-mite

By Ross Hettel | April 10, 2012

Local folk-punk wunderkind Davey Dynamite has released a new split EP, titled Brooder. Why Brooder? “It’s about the brooding that people know - you’re sad, deep in thought,” Dynamite said. “But it’s also a chicken sitting on an egg.” Indeed...

Instagram purchase gives Facebook more than money

Instagram purchase gives Facebook more than money

By Ross Hettel | April 9, 2012

If you were too busy taking deep, inspirational, artsy photos in black and white on your iPhone, you may have missed out on the biggest news since Google bought YouTube: Facebook announced their acquisition of popular photosharing app and sepia filter,...

Singer Adam Thompson of We Were Promised Jetpacks.

From Scotland to DeKalb: We Were Promised Jetpacks flies through

By Ross Hettel | March 25, 2012

Glasgow, Scotland to DeKalb, Illinois: a road not commonly travelled. Scottish rock group We Were Promised Jetpacks jetted through DeKalb Thursday for one brief night filled with frantic riffs and cascading walls of distortion at the House Cafe, 263 E....

We Were Promised Jetpacks soars into House Cafe

By Ross Hettel | March 21, 2012

If you were to judge a band based on it’s name alone, We Were Promised Jetpacks would be ranked right up there with Butthole Surfers. Much like the Butthole Surfers, WWPJ, a four-piece rock outfit from Scotland, take its greatness beyond its band name....

Facebook privacy policy anything but private

By Ross Hettel | March 5, 2012

There was much hullaballoo a few weeks ago about Google’s new privacy policy. While I’m glad there is concern about a company making changes to its privacy policy, I’m not sure it’s enough. In the social network industry, the primary product is,...

In this photo illustration, a checkered whiptail lizard is altered to look like a devil. Junior English major Lauren Nix used the photo as part of her zine, which went viral.

God hates whiptail lizards; the Internet loves them

By Ross Hettel | February 29, 2012

NIU was the birthplace of an Internet phenomenon, and it’s called “God Hates Checkered Whiptail Lizards.” Featuring some great zingers like “It’s Adam and Eve, not Checkered Whiptail Lizards and Eve” and a bald eagle crying, the zine humorously...

Timberlake to bring Myspace back

By Ross Hettel | February 19, 2012

That ad-ridden website from the early 2000s is making a comeback. The one with the garish layouts designed by 13 year olds. No, no, not Geocities. MySpace. After being bought out by Justin Timberlake and friends in June, the granddaddy of the social media...

Boing Boing co-editor speaks at NIU

By Ross Hettel | February 14, 2012

Blogger, best-selling author, and Internet activist Cory Doctorow visited NIU on Thursday to give a speech on the subject of Internet freedom and the social and ethical aspects of free speech in the digital age.Doctorow, who is co-editor for the popular...

i can haz memes?

By Shelby Devitt and Ross Hettel | February 12, 2012

Memes. Memes everywhere. NIU students who love to waste time on Facebook were gifted a new outlet for procrastination this week, courtesy of sophomore English major Danny Cozzi. For those not in the know, a meme is a funny picture or video that is passed...

SOPA and PIPA: One week later

By Ross Hettel | January 24, 2012

One short week has passed since the Internet's unanimous stand against the evils of SOPA, PIPA, and other acronyms you may not have heard of until your favorite web comic was blocked for the day. One short week, however, is all it takes to shake up the...

Master the Mainframe

By Ross Hettel | October 2, 2011

IBM will host its seventh annual Master the Mainframe programming contest this week and NIU stands poised to continue its winning streak. A mainframe is a large computer - sometimes as large as an entire room - that is responsible for extremely fast data...

NIU to participate in 2012 Indian Initiative

By Ross Hettel | September 18, 2011

The Institute of International Education selected NIU, along with 10 other universities, to participate in the 2012 Indian Initiative. The program's goal is to increase higher education connections between U.S. and Indian institutions, according to a...