Facebook tricks, Windows trick, Google trick, Internet hacking, Ethical Hacking, gmail tricks, Technological news, Software Crack, Mobile Tricks, Blogging Trick, ebay Trick, Computer program, LAN hacking, WAN hacking, cookies stealing, Email Tracing
What kind of stuff does the creator of productivity uber-system Getting Things Done keep handy in his home office? A few unique things, a few GTD-nerd things, and, reassuringly, some of the same stuff you have around. Including a clunky printer, and goofy, probably sentimental coffee mug.
GTD Times provides a full-size shot of David Allen's office, with labels helpfully provided by Mr. Allen himself. Many of the fixtures should be familiar to GTD-ers, like the "tickler" file, the notebooks at the ready for sudden inspiration, the in-basket, and, especially, the labeler. You'll also notice the reassuringly less-than-perfect cable clutter and the iPad. Check out the full-size shot at GTD times, and tell us what grabbed your attention in the comments.
If you are a human it is inevitable that you will procrastinate, and college students are especially good at it. While procrastinating can at times be harmless and unavoidable there are some things that you DO NOT want to procrastinate. EVER.
Keep in mind that these are not numbered in order of importance.
1. Duplicating Your Keys
If you only have one key for your house or car or safe or some other lock, you need to get it duplicated! Duplicates are of course nice when you have misplaced your keys and you can just grab your duplicate and go. However, the more important reason is for when you permanently lose your only key somewhere like at the bottom of a lake. So, don’t let this happen, don’t waste money on a lock smith and go duplicate your keys right now!
2. Getting Your Passport
This may be a bit of a harder task to accomplish, but it is an important one. You are going to have to fill out a lot of paper work and drop about $100 to get one, but it is well worth it. It takes forever to actually get you passport in hand after you buy it, and the sooner you need your passport the more you have to pay, so you might as well get it before you plan some out of country travelling so it will be cheaper. In other words, if you decide you are going to Canada in two weeks it will cost a lot more (if not being impossible) to get your passport in time than if you were going in 6 months. Another reason not to procrastinate getting your passport is that if you have it then you can spontaneously travel out of the country at anytime. With this being said, I myself should probably go get my passport…
3. Signing Up for Classes
Signing up for your next term’s classes can be a pain. Trying to figure out what to take, which professor to take it with and how to fit all these classes into a schedule that works for you is annoying. However, you want to figure this all out as soon as the classes for the next term are posted. With all these cuts on education there are a lot less classes that get filled a lot faster every term. So, you want to have your classes figured out beforehand and add them as soon as your registration time opens up to make sure you get into the class and not have to worry about being an “add student.”
4. Getting Your Charger When Your Computer is Dying
Let’s paint a picture. You are laying down on your bed with three blankets on yourself and all of the sudden your laptop says you only have 10% battery and your cord is in a whole other room. The procrastinator in you will think “ahh, silly warning.. I’ll go get, just give me like ten more minutes” and then, 20 minutes later, your laptop has died. Now, not only do you still have to go get your cord, you also have restart computer, try to remember what tabs you had open, re-download whatever downloads got cancelled, lose a whole bunch of time and be even more frustrated than you would have been originally. Listen to the warning!
5. Waking Up
We all know how waking up past your alarm can have negative effects, so don’t do it. One way to prevent this is by learning how to better manage your sleep.
6. Putting Milk in the Fridge.
Don’t leave milk out. It gets warm and it gets gross and it gets spoiled.
7. Buying Tickets
Don’t procrastinate when you are buying tickets. The longer you wait to buy tickets for things (sporting events, plane tickets, concerts) the tickets will either become more expensive or sold out, so buy them early.
8. Car Maintenance
If you recognize that some work has to be done on your car then you need to get it done right away. Cars break when they are not kept up. So, when your gas light comes on then you need to go buy some really expensive gas. Also, people keep telling me that it is very important to change your oil, so let’s all do that. Also, to avoid tickets, you have to keep up the annoying stuff that you do not care about like fixing your tail lights, fixing your break lights, or paying your registration.
9. Buying Toilet Paper
You do not want to realize you have ran out of toilet paper when it is too late.
10. Studying and Homework
Yes, a very boring way to end this list. We all know studying is important to not procrastinate, but I figured I would mention it because you are probably procrastinating it right now as you read this. Not doing your homework or your essay or studying for your final will mess up all the work you put into number five, so get it done early or at least not eight minutes before it is due.
These are 10 things I find important not to procrastinate. What did I leave out? Tell us in the comments.
Logan James Ivey is a freshman at the two year school of Sierra College located in the beautiful foothills of California. His plans are to transfer to the University of California, Davis as an international relations major and perhaps double major or minor in economics. In High School he enjoyed making yearbooks and short films in his Multi Media class. Logan's other interests include rivers, the Internet, becoming strong and listening to hip hop music. You can learn more about this amazing boy by following him on Twitter or Google +.
Stuff is great; I think all of can agree on that. But for college, some things are better than others. Often things we don’t even think of can be crucial additions to any College lifestyle. With that said, here are ten things you need (or at least should) have at your place.
Frozen Fruit
You’re in college, bro. You’re not getting fresh fruit; blueberries cost more than a burrito, and we know where your priorities lie. But big bags of frozen fruit are much, much cheaper, and are fine to eat, thawed or frozen. Plus, frozen berries may be the best high snack in history: healthy, cheap, and impossible to gorge on; the cold keeps you paced.
Half a Pack of cigarettes
You may not smoke, but someone you know or meet will. And when they need a cigarette at 2 AM on a Friday night, you’re an American hero.
A Backup Pair of Headphones
Especially if we’re talking about iPod headphones, you’re going to need a backup. They get lost easily, and what else are you going to do, listen to people? Nope. Get a backup.
Two (2) Condoms
A condom is a staple of any overly hopeful males wallet and sock-drawer, as it should be. This, however, is a rookie move: one should have at least two condoms with him at all time. Because think about it: if it goes poorly you’re going to be thrilled to have a backup. And if it goes well? Then a second one is going to be a must, too.
A Non-Mesh Trashcan
This is more a critique of mesh trashcans. Why would you have that? Who needs a trash-can but thinks “man, I sure wish this trash could just breathe a little more in the room.” Plus, a non-mesh trashcan can handle liquid if you overdrank. Mesh is a trap.
Some Batteries
Taking batteries out of things to put in other things is a dangerous game, muchacho. You’ll take them out of the remote for your Xbox controller, then from the fire alarm for the remote, and then you’ll die from a fire. Don’t want to die? Buy some batteries.
Too much toilet paper
There is no such thing as too much toilet paper. There is, however, such a thing as “too little.” Buy too much toilet paper. We’ll see who has the last laugh.
Eight (8) beers.
This is the minimum number of beers to have, as determined by science. Eight beers means it’s enough to share but not too much to be out of money from sharing. It’s a gift, it’s a dinner accompaniment, whatever: it’s beer. And you need eight of them around.
Advanced: A bottle of wine
For when you have to girls, need a gift, or need to class up a dinner. Forever alone and completely class-less? Then it’s an emergency one-man escape raft to drunkville. But seriously, it’s for the other things, bro.
Baking Soda for your fridge
Your fridge smells evil. Stop it.
An Excuse
By far the most important thing to have in your house is something you can’t touch: you need an excuse. You need one thing or reason to justify whatever you want: if you can’t host people, it’s because of the heat, if you were late to class, your power went out, etc, etc. And of course, late at night you may need something cool enough in your house to justify bringing an interested guest. And if it doesn’t go so hot, you may need another excuse to get them out.
There are some great things about becoming an upperclassman.
As an upperclassman, you get better classes. Alcohol is easier to get, you know the school and city, and you can live in an actual house as opposed to the giant social-experiment-sandbox that are Freshman dorms. But alas, with great power comes great responsibility. While being an upper-classman comes with many gifts, here are eight things you’re going to have to stop doing.
1: Having Strong Opinions about Frats
This goes in both directions. It’s no longer cool to brag or boast about your fraternity. You can drink beer with friends and get girls. Congratulations! You are everyone else in college. Similarly, if you don’t like frats, keep it to yourself at this point. Nothing is weirder than a grudge that should have expired.
2: Seeking out Freshmen
As Sophomores, we only had one skill: not being Freshman. And boy, what a skill it was. You knew better and you were eager to assert it, and that’s fine. If you’re still doing that as a Junior by attempting actively to pursue Freshmen, check yourself.
NOTE: If you are a Senior, you may have a pet freshman. He will be your Freshie’mon: half Freshman and half Poke’mon. You will train him for greatness and to battle other Freshmen. Ideally he should have fire-moves.
3: Freaking out about your GPA
Now this one is more interesting, because grades count more later on, I think. To be honest, I’m not a big grade person. And if you aren’t, now isn’t the time to start. And if you are, why keep stressing. It’s been at least two years now; take a long look at your GPA. It’s going to stay about the same if you live the way you are. And I think that’s fine. Take a breath.
4: Bragging about how much you drink.
There are only two options for bragging about how much you drink at this age; either everyone else drinks the same, which means you’re just being a jerk, or you actually do drink much more than everyone else in college, meaning you are going to die by the end of this sentence. Either way, we don’t want to hear about it.
5: Saying “Swag”
A rule of thumb? The more you say it, the less you have.
6: Going to Class
At this point, you know enough about college to sense a day when it isn’t worth it; you’ll fall asleep in class anyway, or there’s nothing to hand in, or it’s a movie you can watch elsewhere. Similarly, you’re old enough to recognize the value of a beautiful day or a friend in town from afar. Enjoy it. They stay skipping class is only stealing from yourself; if that’s true, cut yourself an IOU now and then.
7: Telling everyone you’re going to be wildly successful in an unlikely or impressive field
We all daydream. All of us know, know, how we’re going to excel and make back all the money we spent on diplomas, and how we’re going to make our ex-girlfriends cry wistfully over framed photographs of us slam-dunking over a lion that’s also on fire.And daydreams are like any other dreams: awesome for you to have, but no one wants to hear them. You’re not going to be a famous rapper. You’re not even going to be a mildly successful rapper. You may not even be a waiter in this economy. But if and when you do succeed, everyone whose ear you yapped off will be waiting with a brick to throw.
8: Calling the opposite gender “crazy”
The homeless guy training lobsters for the “inevitable” is crazy. The girl at ATO who didn’t want to dance with you isn’t crazy; in all likelihood, she’s actually making a pretty good call. If the opposite gender is still enough of a mystery to you that they leave you furious, frustrated, and baffled, maybe you should get a different hobby, like scrapbooking.
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.
We talk a lot about honing the perfect to do list here at Lifehacker, but Redditor Phospholipids reminds us that sometimes, a second to do list—with those little things you can get done in between tasks—is a great way to get things done.
Phospholipids explains in further detail:
In your to dos, create a category called '10 min' tasks. It has helped me gotten small stuffs done much more efficiently, for those small tasks that you remember at random times of the day, but can never remember when you get home (such as to cut your nails, or to clear up your desk). Those tasks that take maximum of 10 minutes.
I had never made a "formal" 10 minute list, but always ended up making one on a scratch piece of paper, or as a note in Simplenote—just because I wanted to keep it separate from my real to-do list. After formalizing it and making a separate to-do list next to my main one, it's been a big help in keeping these little tasks under control.
LPT: In your todos, create a category called '10 min' tasks | Reddit
Money. You need it to live, but whether you're a spendthrift or a miser, money can make you do foolish things. You'll waste it trying too hard to save, spend it on things you don't need, and simply overpay on regular expenses every month. Here's how to avoid being stupid with your hard-earned cash.
Frugality has its downfalls. When you try too hard to save, sometimes you end up wasting your money in the process. This may seem almost impossible, but it happens when you try so hard to cut costs that you stop paying for things you actually need. Doing this leads to more problems down the road—problems that are far more costly.
For example, skipping regular checkups at the doctor and the dentist can save you a few hundred dollars each year, but there will come a day when your lack of preventative care—which is very important—will earn you a much higher bill.
Doing your own taxes with inexpensive software may also seem like a good idea, but if the software makes any mistakes you could end up paying for them later. If you're going to do your own taxes, make sure you have the time and resources necessary or you could run into problems.
Buying cheaply made products is another way to throw away your money. It may save you cash in the short term, but you're bound to find yourself replacing it far sooner than a well-made product. If you've ever purchased a cheap inkjet printer, you know this works. It'll print well for about six months to a year before you start to run into clogged ink heads and other issues. While the printer may be under warranty, manufacturers will often just replace them because it's less expensive than the cost of repair. This is not only bad for the environment, but it can be bad for your wallet if you end up paying any of the costs yourself. It's always better to look for a good deal on a well-made product than sacrifice quality manufacturing for the sake of a discount that will possibly cost you more in the long run.
Buying in bulk can also cost you more in the long run if you don't use everything you buy. Bulk food can be great for multi-person households—especially those with children—but buying in bulk isn't necessarily ideal for just one or sometimes even two people. Before you make your way to CostCo or Sam's Club, ensure that you're going to actually use everything you buy and that you're actually getting a good deal—because sometimes you're not.
Overall, if you think your purchasing decisions through before you make them you shouldn't have too hard of a time realizing when your efforts to cut costs will actually hurt you in the long run. A little thought is enough to solve the problem.
When you aren't bringing in as much as you'd like with each paycheck, it's hard to reduce that amount by cutting out a chunk that's just going to sit in a bank account and earn minimal interest. In some cases, you may think you can't even afford to save. Neither option looks particularly attractive, but there are numerous benefits to saving even a small portion of your paycheck that you may not realize—benefits that save you even more money in the long run.
While this probably goes without saying, saving money means you have a reserve of cash at your disposal. It's worth mentioning nonetheless because you may not realize that you can end up spending more money in the long run when you don't save at all. This not happens because you can quickly rack up credit card debt by buying things you can't afford, but because using your savings to purchase an item means you have the freedom to spend at the most optimal time—such as when a good deal comes along. If you don't have the necessary savings when that deal arises, you'll have to put it on a credit card that you can't pay off immediately and the interest will quickly negate those savings. If you have cash at the ready, you won't face this dilemma.
You can save money even if you don't have a lot of cash reserves—just start small. If it hurts to take a chunk out of your paycheck each month, consider saving a dollar or two every day. Because you likely spend at least that much cash on a daily basis, funneling it into a jar won't seem quite as difficult as watching about $30-60 disappear each month from your paycheck. Contributing in small amounts will grow your savings slowly, but as you get in the habit you may feel more comfortable increasing the amount. If you're really having trouble finding the money to put in your savings account, consider where you can cut back and use the leftover cash to sock away each month. In the next section will discuss reducing your bills, which is an excellent way to find an explicit amount of extra cash each month, but you can also cut back in other ways if necessary. Cooking at home is one of the biggest savers. If you cut out prepared food and coffee runs on most days, you can save a lot. Buying generic—which sometimes gets you an identical product for less—is a great way to save money further. You can also save a lot by reducing your electricity usage, which can often be as simple as remembering to turn things off and using more efficient light bulbs. You'll also want to consider what you actually have to buy and what you can reuse. Razor blades, for example, can be used for a couple of years with a simple sharpening technique. Consider what can be kept before you toss it in the garbage.
Contributing to your 401k is another great way to save, but many people avoid this because 1) retirement seems a long way off and 2) they want to build an emergency fund beforehand so they're ready in case of a problem. There are two issues with avoiding a 401k. First, if your company matches any contribution you make you're basically throwing away money by not taking advantage of that benefit. Second, your 401k can also serve as an emergency fund. In many cases—such the an inability to pay rent or a medical emergency—you can withdraw money from your 401k early with either a reduced tax penalty or none at all. You will be subject to the income tax, but you'd have paid that if you put it in a savings account anyhow. Not every 401k allows for hardship withdrawals, so be sure to check with your plan (or any plan you're considering) beforehand. If you are covered, there's really no excuse to contribute to your 401k right now.
When you see a price tag on an item you want or receive a monthly bill in the mail, the general assumption is that this price is not negotiable—but that's where you'd be wrong. You can end up easily overpaying by quite a bit if you just accept the price you see. Often times there is a less-costly alternative.
When it comes to your bills, there are two things you can do to lower them. The first simply involves making a few phone calls each year to negotiate your rates. If you pay your bills on time and you've been loyal to the company for the last year or more, it's not hard to get some sort of discount. I do this twice a year with my cable bill and end up with a discount, a free upgrade, or both. In addition to your cable (or internet) bill, you can target cellphone carriers, credit cards, car insurance, and gym memberships. All you have to do is ask what they can do to help you get a lower price and be persistent.
In the event you can't get a cost reduction by simply asking, you can make some small sacrifices. In general, many monthly services include something you do not need and can easily live without. For example, text messaging plans can be replaced with Google Voice. Cable packages likely include a few premium channels you bought as a bundle but don't need anymore, and a super-thin HD antenna (like the Mohu Leaf) could replace your cable package altogether and even save you some space. Switching to a lesser bundle may not only be cheaper, but lock you into another discount for six to 12 months. You just have to look at what you're currently paying for and think about what you really need. Most often, you can live with less than you think because there are free alternatives available.
As for in-store prices, people tend to think they can't haggle when they often can. Big ticket items like furniture, appliances, and mattresses are rarely set in stone and you can make a deal if you try. This even works at big-ticket retailers like Best Buy. You can negotiate prices on televisions, for example, and often get a lower price and/or free accessories (like those overpriced cables). Cars and home prices are also commonly negotiable, and you can even reduce your medical bills with a simple question. Insurance companies are often ending up with lower rates, so if you're paying your doctor or dentist out of pocket you should see if they offer a cash discount. I get 10% off every dentist appointment for paying with a check. While you don't want to haggle for absolutely everything you buy, when the cost is higher than average it never hurts to ask. You may not get a discount, but if you do that quick negotiation will prove worthwhile.
We're lucky enough to live in a world with plenty of great products and so it's easy to turn to a credit card to buy them when you don't have the cash. Just because racking up unnecessary credit card debt is common these days doesn't make it a healthy practice. Carrying debt that you take time to pay off can amount in huge interest charges that don't take long to get into the range of thousands of dollars even if you always make your minimum payments. There's rarely a good excuse to carry debt on your cards, so if you do you it's time to put together a plan to stop right now.
If you really have a spending problem, you need to find ways to prevent yourself from using your credit cards. Enforcing a mandatory waiting period on your purchases or switching to a cash-only policy are two practical ways to start, but even ridiculous options like storing your credit cards in a jar of peanut butter or a block of ice can work because they make buying quite a bit more difficult. Simply taping over the magnetic strip and writing "DON'T USE ME" can work as well as a reminder is often enough. However you choose to go about it, take the necessary measures to ensure you don't actually use your cards.
To eliminate the debt, you need to make a plan. Figure out how much you can pay every month and how long paying that amount will take you to become debt free. ReadyForZero is a web app that can help you put that plan together. Once you have your plan, all you have to do is follow it. Debt can seem insurmountable at times because it can take years to pay off, but if you're patient and persistent it will be worth it in the end.
Checking your credit report is incredibly important and yet many people neglect to do it even though it's free. Not only is it important to know if there are any negative ratings on your account, but it can help you catch identity theft early on. The Consumerist posted about a man named Mike who found an anomaly in his credit report and it helped him that turned out to be fraud:
I check my free credit report every year. Well apparently last year I didn't check my Experian report, which was good news for me this year because I still have until May for my other two. Well, lo and behold, there's a default filing for $163. At first I was like, oh I forgot to pay something, what the hell cost me $163 that I missed?
The $163 was a fraudulent charge that Mike wouldn't have known about for a long time had he neglected to check his report every year. Ideally, you'd want to check quarterly to stay on top of any potential issues but you'd have to be willing to pay in that case. If you want a free report, we recommend using AnnualCreditReport. Not all free credit report services are actually free, but we know that one is. In addition to keeping an eye on fraud, you can use your report to improve your credit score. For the most part, paying your bills on time, avoiding collections, and only applying for new cards or loans a couple of times per year should keep your score on the rise. That said, you may find something on your credit report that shouldn't be there, so be sure to call the major three reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) to have it removed if you do.
What stupid things have you done with your money and how did you fix them? If you've got advice to share, post it in the comments!
You know what's cooler than having lots of skills? Having skills you can use with one hand tied behind your back. Here are our top 10 tricks that only take 25% of your limbs to accomplish.
Obviously, there are a lot of things you can do with one hand. Here, we're trying to avoid the obvious (like cutting and pasting text, or unlocking your iPhone), as well as the things you're all thinking right now (like unhooking a bra, or other things you'd rather not talk to your mother about). A few of these you may already know, but for the most part, we're going for new skills you can learn today.
Did you know the distance between your eyes is one tenth the length of your arm? Besides being a random fun fact, this tip can help you estimate distances using just your arm. Just stick your arm out, cover up the object with your thumb, and stare at it with your eye closed. Then, switch your open eye and sort out how far the object has "jumped" to the side. If you're looking to measure the height of something—like a tall tree or building—you can do that one-handed too.
know what it's like digging into a DIY project. You're so excited that you want to do it all at once, without any regard to your personal safety or intricate details. So, if you want to unpack boxes with one hand while you strip and solder with the other, you can use this convenient one-handed wire stripping and tinning method to get the job done. Just don't burn yourself, please. Note that this one requires a bit of two-handed cheating in the first step, but if you really want to do it one-handed, you can always build a third hand that'll hold the wire for you.
From the "showing off at a party" files, lighting a match with one hand is a surefire way to burn yourse—ahem, look cool (seriously, be careful with this one). It's pretty easy to do with any set of matches, though if you have a set of strike-anywhere matches, you can even do it using just your thumb. Of course, if that's a little too close to skin for you, you can always use your pants zipper as well.
We'd be remiss not to mention some sort of computer trick here—this is Lifehacker, after all—but after searching for the most mind-blowing keyboard shortcuts we could find, we discovered the true one-handed computer marvel is the fact that you can turn any action into a keyboard shortcut, on both Windows and OS X. That means you can do virtually anything on your computer with just a one-handed keystroke. Of course, if you're looking for something a bit more impressive than that, you can always learn how to type one-handed, too. Photo by Daniel Novta.
One of the skills everyone seems to be jealous of is the ability to perform that ear-piercing whistle with two fingers in your mouth. Whether you need to hail a cab or you just want to be the neighborhood's morning rooster, it's actually not that hard to do. We've talked about it once before, but you can also check out the video to the left for step-by-step instructions.
We've talked about the top 10 things every budding foodie should know, but we neglected to mention one of the easiest things any aspiring chef can learn: how to crack an egg with one hand. It's actually very easy to do, and you can probably learn it without wasting too many eggs in the process—especially if you have a few golf balls on hand to help you practice.
We've shown you countless ways to open a bottle without a bottle opener, but if you don't even have a piece of paper on hand, you can actually open a beer with just your forearm. Okay, so this one's cheating just a tad, but you don't actually need two hands—just two arms. Check out the video to the left to see how it's done.
This one definitely takes some practice, but if you really want to be a cut above the other dealers at your next poker game (pun intended), you can learn this trick for shuffling cards one-handed. Cutting the deck with one hand is very easy, but that's not going to fly with more serious card players, so check out the video to the left to see some real one-handed shuffling. It'll definitely take you a few tries to learn it—and probably a few games of 52 pickup—but it'll be worth the effort when you can actually make it look easy.
If you're still tying your shoes with the granny knot, it's time to upgrade. You can tie them in two seconds flat with the Ian Knot, or, if you're looking to get a bit more impressive, you can learn Ian's one-handed knot. You'll only end up with one loop on your shoe when you're done, so it might look a tad silly—but it works. Alternatively, you can tie your shoes using a more traditional knot using one hand and one of your feet to keep one of the laces in place, as shown in the video to the left. The advantage of Ian's knot is that it's not only faster, but if you really want to get crazy, you can use it to tie both of your shoes at once. If that doesn't get you access to the cool club, I don't know what will.
It sounds messy, but it's actually less messy than the traditional, two-handed method of eating chicken wings. Not only do you only end up with sauce on one hand (because, you know, your other hand is holding your beer the whole time), but you don't have to pick apart the bones. Just hold the larger end of the wing, push the meat down at the top, and eat the whole thing in one fell swoop. Try it once and you'll never go back to eating wings with two hands again.
There are probably other neat, one-handed tricks out there, but these are our favorites of the ones we found. Of course, you could always include tricks that free up one of your hands—like this magnetic coffee cup—but we wanted to stick to the "one hand only" rule as much as possible. Got any of your own one-handed tricks to share (you know, that don't involve Chrome's private browsing mode)? Tell us about them in the comments.
We all want to make the best use of our time, and time in the kitchen is no exception. For many of us, cooking has become synonymous with drudgery — with that perennial question, “What’s for dinner?” striking a silent sigh from within.
Yet cooking from scratch is one of the best things we can do for ourselves and our families.
While I do make my living as a cook, I’m just like the rest of you. I don’t want to spend needless time in the kitchen at the end of a long workday…or on my days off. I also don’t want to have to fuss over sauces or stove top dishes that require constant supervision to save them from the risk of total ruin.
One of the best kept secrets for efficient and easy food prep in the kitchen I discovered early on was to use the oven — and for a lot more things than pies, cakes, or roast chicken. It really is the ultimate kitchen multi-tasking device. I can get a recipe written up and laundry done while the soup I’m going to have for dinner roasts quietly in the oven.
Using the power of dry heat is a kinder, gentler way of coaxing flavour from simple ingredients. Don’t believe me? Try roasting your green beans next time you think about steaming them.It’s mostly a “hands-off process” once you’ve completed all the preparation – the oven does all of the hard work. Perfect for those of us who work from home, or a Sunday afternoon…when you’re likely home anyway.If you have time (but not attention), the oven is the perfect way to cook. Just make sure you put a timer on — and like that commercial from the 80's used to say: Set it, and forget it!Despite the hype about low-cost fast food, cooking from scratch is cheaper — and better for you. Using the oven makes it easy to do that with very humble, inexpensive ingredients.There’s no special equipment needed. Think of your oven like a big slow-cooker. With multiple settings, no need for a new piece of equipment, and no loss of valuable counter real estate. I’ve had best success with cookware I already have –- sheet pans and parchment paper for many things, and cast-iron frying pans and pyrex casserole dishes for things that are a bit more fluid.Soup. Any soup that is going to be pureed and/or that requires a flavour base of browned aromatics (onions, carrots, celery, garlic) is much easier to do in the oven. A rough chop, then sprinkle with salt and pepper, and finally a toss to lightly coat with oil. Bake at 375 degrees until everything is fork-tender. Puree in a large bowl with hot chicken stock and adjust seasonings. That’s it!Chickpeas and other dried legumes. Dried legumes are so much more frugal than canned, but usually involve soaking, rinsing and simmering. Cooking chickpeas in the oven is easy as placing them in a casserole with a heavy lid — no soaking required. Toss in a small onion, whole garlic clove and a bay leaf, cover with 1” of water and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 2-3 hours. Bake up a lot and you can freeze the extras with a bit of the cooking liquid for later use.Jam. Cooking jam the classic way involves cooking fruit and sugar on the stove top until it reaches that magical temperature of 220 degrees. This usually requires stirring to avoid scorching on the bottom, and sometimes some scorched fingers in the process as it bubbles up. Most jam recipes follow a basic ratio of fruit:sugar. Just follow this ratio, but spread everything out in large roasting pan. Cook at 300 degrees for about 2 hours, with a stir every 30 minutes or so. It will get thicker as you get close to the end.Beets. Are you tired of trying to figure out how to peel beets without running the risk of maiming yourself? Roast them unpeeled! 350 degrees in an oblong pyrex pan covered with foil; there’s not even any oil needed – the moisture in the beets does it all. After 60-70 minutes (for medium-sized beets) they should be tender through. Slice off the top and bottom and the peels will slip off! Chop up and store to use in salads, or for quick pickles through the week.Savoury salads. Roasted root vegetables make a great base for savoury salads. Roast these on a parchment lined sheet pan with a bit of olive oil, onions, garlic, balsamic vinegar and spices if you like (smoked paprika makes a great addition, or try some ground coriander with your carrots). Roasting everything with the balsamic gives it a complex, new dimension that you won’t get by dressing it after the fact.Tomato sauce. Tomatoes taste best when they have been reduced slowly, with a bit of caramelization happening (for the geeks out there, look up the Maillard reaction). It’s super easy to achieve this using the oven. Fresh tomatoes are best — if they’re in season, but canned are excellent if they’re not. Add onions, rosemary, whole peeled garlic cloves, salt, pepper, and a bit of olive oil. Roast on a parchment-lined sheet pan.Caramelized onions. No worry about them burning. Peel and chop as many onions as will fit on your sheet pan. Chop them pole-pole, and toss with a bit of olive oil, and 1/2 tsp salt. Roast on a parchment-lined sheet pan for 60 minutes at 375 degrees.Polenta. Classic polenta requires stirring…and monitoring…and more stirring. Using the oven to bake polenta is dead-easy and only requires one intermediate step along the way — with equally delicious results! Bake 1 cup polenta, 4 cups water, 1 tsp or so salt, at 350 degrees in a covered 3 quart casserole for 1 hour. Check it for moisture, and stir in cheese if you want. Bake for another 15 minutes and serve.
So now that you have this technique at your disposal, play around with it. Start thinking of your oven as a “mechanical prep-chef” — and think about the different ways you might use a big batch of roasted beets, chickpeas, or tomato sauce throughout the week. A large batch of polenta can be eaten as a side dish, and leftovers can be chilled in a loaf pan and eaten sliced and fried until crispy 2 nights later.
The more ingredients you have prepared in advance, the less stressful dinner will be!
By being a knowledge worker, you are bombarded with due dates, things to remember, special events coming up, and projects that you need to spend time on to complete. Even the best of the best productivity gurus out there struggle with keeping track of time and dates.
If you are one of these people that struggle, here are 10 apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android that can help you stay on time and make sure that you don’t forget a due date again.
Due for iOS is my go to reminder/timing app. You can setup reminders for specific times that repeat, multiple timers that can run at the same time, and also access to a handy Logbook where all of your checked-off reminders are stored.
Due also has a bunch of settings allowing you to customize your alarms and sounds as well as the ability to backup and sync your reminder/timer data.
Repeat Timer is a simple and beautiful timer app that only supports three different timers. The timers can have a set interval so you can practice your Pomodoro technique with ease. You can also setup how many times you want the timer to repeat with its interval.
Repeat Timer has some great sounds to it as well as an awesome design, look, and feel. If you want a simple way to stay on time with your iPhone, this is the app.
Alarmed reminds me a lot of Due but with some extra functionality like wake-up and sleep timers (which you can even assign playlists to for the duration of your sleepy time). The app is quite impressive, but can feel like setting overload, especially if you are looking for just a simple way to stay on time.
But, if you are looking for an app that does alarms, repeats, and alarms all in one, Alarmed is a good bet.
More of a reminder application than timer, COL Reminder for Android allows the user to setup multiple reminders with notes, due dates and times, repeats, as well as a priority system. There are also a bunch of settings for customizing now the alarm sounds and notifications react to reminders, ability to change the minutes you can choose from in the dropdown list, etc.
One of the coolest features is a built in parking timer that you can set to be placed in your notification bar when you activate it.
Timer is a simple way to run multiple countdown timers at the same time. The timers can wake your phone from sleep when finished, you can pause/continue them, and many of them can be saved and used later.
My favorite part of Timer is the way that you use a “knob” to set the timers, kind of like using an iPod click-wheel.
RemindMe is a very simple timer/reminder application for setting quick reminders. Basically, you create a new reminder, set the countdown timer or specific time of day you wanted reminded, put in a brief description, and set the reminder.
Pretty much the simplest of simple when it comes to timers on OS X, nice timer is a great choice if you are just needing a countdown timer or stopwatch. It’s small, elegant, and gets the job done on your Mac.
Nag is mostly interesting because of it’s interface that allows you to easily adjust your alarm by pressing buttons that add or subtract hours, minutes, and seconds to your reminder. You can also set a bit of text for the reminder and be “nagged” by the app until you click the stop button.
Although it may not be the prettiest of apps, TimeLeft is a super powerful way to drag due times and remind you of when things are happening. With TimeLeft you can set reminders with complex rules, set countdown timers, use a stopwatch, or even replce the Windows system clock with the TimeLeft clock.
The app is fully skinnable, so you can try to make it match your cuttent Windows look and feel.
Countdown Timer is great way to track numerous countdowns and be reminded of certain events with music and notification messages. The interface is simple and easy to use, yet there are many powerful features like being able to wake your computer from sleep mode at a specific time or due date.
CM Smith is a technologist, writer, and husband. He holds a degree in MIS and CMPSC from Penn State. CM is also interested in personal productivity, creativity and how to use technology to get things done. Check out his writing at devburner.net or follow him on Twitter.
