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A while back we looked at a great list of common cooking mistakes that many people—myself included—are guilty of committing from time to time, but this list from the folks at EatingWell hits on a few other common errors that many of us make, like heating oil until it starts to smoke. Instead, they suggest, resist the urge to put some oil in a pan, turn it on, and turn your back on it—the flavor and healthy properties of some cooking oils will be better off if you keep an eye on it.
Overheating oils is a pretty common cooking issue that many of us run into, but the rest of the list is just as interesting. They also address why you should avoid putting Pyrex baking dishes under a broiler (they can't withstand the direct heat and may shatter), and the ever-popular but oh-so-messy turning on the blender with hot liquids inside before removing the stopper. If you've ever had to clean up a kitchen after someone's made that mistake, it's one you'll never make again.
Check out the whole list at the link below, and let us know some of your common cooking mistakes you've learned to stop making—or wish you could quit—in the comments below.
10 Bad Cooking Habits You Should Break | Kitchen Daily
Dear Lifehacker, I did a couple of small side projects for friends and now it looks like I might get some steady freelance work and actually make some real money part-time. I'm not ready to quit my day job, but do I need to do anything official like actually start a business or register somewhere now that I'm actually making money freelancing?
Thanks, Moonlighter
Dear Moonlighter, Congratulations and welcome to the wild, wonderful, and challenging life of a freelancer. We've touched on the topic of freelancing a few times before, from psychological and financial preparations you should do to how to decide how much to charge for your freelance services. It sounds like you want to know what you're legally required to set up, though. Thankfully, the answer is—depending on where you live and what your line of work is as a freelancer—not much. Let's take a look.
You don't need to start a business, because actually once you start making money as a freelancer or independent contractor—surprise—you already do have a business, at least in the eyes of the law. You are now the owner of a one-person business (technically a sole proprietorship)!
With that power and responsibility, however, may come licenses, their associated fees, and possibly permits—depending, again, on where you live and how your work is set up. Most business licenses and permits are required by local governments—your specific city or possibly county you live in.
DBA (Doing Business As): If you want to do business under a name other than your own (e.g., "Joe Smith Widget Building"), you'll need to file a fictitious name statement or DBA ("doing business as") from your county before getting the local city license. (The DBA will also be needed to open a business bank account if you want one. You don't need a business bank account as a freelancer, though.)
City or county licenses: To keep things simple, however, you could just use your own name for your freelance work, in which case you wouldn't need to file for that DBA, and your locality also might not require you to get a local business license. The local business license is really just a tax-revenue collecting permit to allow you to do business in the area. You'll have to check with your city and county business licensing office to be sure, of course. If you are required to get a license regardless of whether you use a DBA or your own name, it's usually a painless process. You just have to go to the office, fill out a form (possibly get it notarized) and pay the annual fee. The fee can range from $25 to a couple of hundred dollars, depending on the type and amount of work you expect to do.
Local home business permits: Aside from the city or county license, while you're talking to the local business licensing department, you might want to ask them about any permits required to work from home (assuming that's the kind of freelancing you're doing. If not, move along). Some communities do have zoning regulations against home-based businesses, to restrict things like parking problems, commercial signs, and things they consider nuisances like lots of people coming and going. You can also check with your local chamber of commerce to find out how your area is zoned. If you find out a home business is prohibited, you could a) ignore the restriction, as some freelancers do, but keep in mind the risk of fines, b) try using an alternate mailing service for your business, c) apply for an exception or variance, or d) move (as a last resort).
State and federal licenses: More licenses, you're thinking? Don't worry, unless you work in a specific type of profession like architecture or real estate, you probably don't have to worry about business licensing from your state; chances are you'd know if you'd need a license already, but if not, go to your state's website at www.state.[your state's two letter abbreviation].us to check. The federal government doesn't really license small businesses either.
Only one more topic to discuss about freelancing requirements—taxes. Yup, our favorite. There are two issues:
Sales tax collection and permits: Depending on the freelance work you do, you might need to collect sales tax for your state and possibly local government and turn it over to them on whatever schedule (annual, quarterly, or monthly) they designate. If this is the case, you'll probably need to apply for a permit to collect sales tax (Yay! Isn't this fun?). Generally this applies if you sell or resell products that are subject to sales tax, but it can also apply, in rare cases, to some services in some states. As an example, finished graphic design work transferred on DVDs or in print to clients is a tangible product subject to sales tax, at least in NY, but writing, being a service, is not subject to sales tax. But, again, your mileage will vary depending on your work and where you live, so refer to your state's website.
Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN): Last but not least, as a freelancer, your identification number on your tax forms and licenses will be your Social Security number or a Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN). You're only required to get an EIN for certain circumstances, such as if you want to hire employees or if your insurance company or a vendor requires you to have one. In that case, you can get an EIN from the IRS for free by filing Form SS-4. While not necessary, it might be a good idea to get an EIN to protect from identity theft. Finance Diva suggests that since the EIN is free and easy to get, you should use it instead of your Social Security number when you have to provide your information to companies and individuals you work with, including subcontractors. This is optional, though, but still something to consider.
In short, you only really need to look into getting: a local business license if your city or county requires it, possibly a home permit, and a sales tax permit, depending on your work.
It's not hard to find instrument apps in the iTunes App Store for the iPhone and iPad. Actually finding a use for most of them is a different story. However, a few simple hacks and the acceptance of what a touch screen instrument should be can lead to some great implementations in the real world for musicians. Here's how to do it.
Generally, when people think about music on the iPhone, they think about the ways apps like Garageband emulate real instruments. Just picture someone awkwardly air-strumming a fake guitar on an iPad and you'll get an idea of how these work. In practice, these are fun and weird gimmicks, but they're not really practical. However, a few really solid replacements exist as do a handful of complex (and awesome) effects pedals. We'll take a look at how these usually work in the first section before moving on to how to actually implement them in your music.
You're not going to get real instrument quality out of an iPad or iPhone. Typically, the best apps are the ones that are either completely new instruments or they're emulating a digital (or at least synthesizing) instrument. This is where iOS really excels. Instead of dropping $1,000 on a synthesizer, you can get a digital version for around $20. Here's just a few examples of some of the stuff that's emulated really well on iOS:
Yamaha TNR-i ($19.99 for the app, $999.99 for physical instrument).Korg iElectribe ($19.99 for the app, $499 for the physical instrument).Korg iMS-20 ($32.99 for the app, $1,500-$2,000 for a used one on eBay).Animoog ($29.99 for the app, no physical version).
Thousands of other options exist, but the above are a taste of what the iPhone and iPad have to offer. Obviously, if you have the real thing it's going to sound and look a lot better, but if you're just running emulators off a laptop, the iPhone can be a great addition to any musician's toolkit. The big problem is how to actually make them work with your setup. If you're using just the iPhone and nothing else, you can run it out to a mixer with a standard headphone cable. But if you're looking to do a little more, there's a few tricks you can use to sync the software with everything else you're doing and even send audio in and back out.
Tons of great software is great, but if you can't actively implement it then it's a moot point. One of the biggest problems with the iPad and iPhone is the fact they don't have separate inputs and outputs, which means it's difficult to find a use for using these instruments in the real world. Thankfully, you can hack together old technology to create a number of different uses for the device, here's a few ideas. Photo by Christian Jensen.
One of the handiest things you do with an iPhone is turn it into an effects pedal. While you probably don't want to set it on the floor and step on it, the iPhone can serve up some pretty good effects for both instruments and vocals. The catch, however, is figuring out how to wire everything together so that you can actually run your instrument in and back out of the one headphone jack.
You can pick up a commercial solution like the iRig, which allows you to run an instrument through the iPhone so you can use it as to alter the sound before sending it off to the amp. Better yet, you can hack together your own from a few RCA cables you probably already have laying around. Both of these solutions utilize the iPhone's built-in microphone port so you can plug an audio input in and then send it back to an amp. Want a cheap delay pedal for your guitar? Check out AmpKit. Want to sound like a robot with a vocoder? the iVoxel app might be just what you're looking for. The point is that once you can send audio both in and out, the apps become significantly more useful.
One of the most interesting things you can do with an iPad is to use the above software (or any music software, really) and use a real instrument with it. To do this, you'll need either Apple's Camera Connection Kit or something like the Line 6 MIDI Mobilizer. What exactly is a MIDI controller? It means you can use your physical music keyboard to control the software keyboard. This means one cheap, physical keyboard can sound like anything you want.
Both the camera connection kit and the Line 6 MIDI Mobilizer can be used to allow your iPhone to talk with real hardware dating all the way back to the '80s. This means you can use an app like the above mentioned iMS-20 with a real keyboard—giving you tactile control over the software (you can find a huge list of compatible hardware over at iOS MIDI). Run a compatible keyboard through the MIDI port on the Line 6 or the USB on the Camera Connection Kit and suddenly your iPhone has all the capabilities of your laptop. As a practical solution, it works great. It's portable, easy to use, takes up little space, and with the right software is just as powerful as a laptop.
Happen to own an iPhone and an iPad you want to use together? The other option you have is to use the built-in Wireless Sync Start Technology. A lot of the music software comes with this packed in and it allows you to sync two devices together so they start and stop at the same time. They can also help maintain the same tempo, which means if you're using say, a drum machine on your iPad and a synthesizer on your iPhone, they can stay in sync. It's essentially a form of Bluetooth MIDI. You can find a list of compatible software here.
Hopefully the above software and hardware tips give you a starting point for creating something interesting. You'll find more gimmicky software for the iPhone than you'll find useful stuff, but that doesn't mean your iPhone can't be a powerful tool. Be sure to share your own methods for using an iOS device in your music making in the comments.
