Monday, April 23, 2012
Thursday, November 10, 2011
How to Back Up Your iOS Device with iCloud | Mac|Life
How to Back Up Your iOS Device with iCloud
Posted 11/10/2011 at 7:57am | by Cory Bohon
What's that? You don't know what to do with all of those gigabytes that Apple gives you? Sure, it's only 5GB of free space (Although who are we kidding? We go nuts over 2GB!) But the iCloud back up service makes it so that you don’t have to connect your device to iTunes in order to keep things synced. We’ll show you how easy it can be to live cord-free with iOS 5.
After signing into your iCloud account, navigate to System Preferences > iCloud > Storage & Backup. Once there, locate the iCloud Backup switch and move it from OFF to ON.
You’ll get a dialog that lets you know your iPad will no longer back up to your computer automatically when you sync your music, videos, etc. Select the OK button to have your iPad turn on iCloud Backup.
iCloud Backup will automatically back up your camera roll, accounts, documents, and settings when the iPad is plugged in, locked, and connected to Wi-Fi. To create your first backup, select the “Back Up Now” button. This process may take a while depending on the amount of storage you have used on your device.
iCloud will backup the following:
- Purchased music, apps, and books- Photos and video in the camera roll
- Device settings
- App data
- Home screen and app organization
- SMS and MMS messages
- Ringtones
You can purchase additional storage for the following upgrade prices:
- 10 GBs for $20.00 / year
- 20 GBs for $40.00 / year
- 50 GBs for $100.00 / year
Follow this article’s author, Cory Bohon on Twitter.
Ripping the correct DVD title with HandBrake | Macworld
by Christopher Breen, Macworld.com Nov 10, 2011 10:00 am
The weekly Macworld Video returns! Starting this week, Macworld’s editors will provide a helpful video compatible not only with your web browser, but also your iOS device. In this specific video I show you how to use DVD Player to determine which is the correct main title to rip for the DVDs you own. Enjoy.
• Format: MPEG-4/H.264
• Resolution: 480 x 272 (iPhone & iPod compatible)
• Size: 3 MB
• Length: 1 minute, 53 seconds
Show Notes
[Editor’s note: The MPAA and most media companies argue that you can’t legally copy or convert commercial DVDs for any reason. We (and others) think that, if you own a DVD, you should be able to override its copy protection to make a backup copy or to convert its content for viewing on other devices. Currently, the law isn’t entirely clear one way or the other. So our advice is: If you don’t own it, don’t do it. If you do own it, think before you rip.]
I discuss two utilities in this video. HandBrake and VLC. Go get ’em. DVD Player can be found in your Mac’s Applications folder.
To subscribe to the Macworld Video stream via iTunes, click here.
You can also see a complete archive of all our videos on Macworld’s YouTube channel. Subscribe to that channels and you will be notified whenever we post a new video.
Or just point your favorite podcast-savvy RSS reader to: http://feeds.macworld.com/macworld/video/
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How to Protect Yourself from Online Fraud and Identity Theft via lifehacker.com
This week is International Fraud Awareness Week, and there's no better time to brush up on your skills to make sure you don't fall for online trickery designed to fleece you or convince you to give up sensitive personal information. Here are some tips to stay safe.
Learn to Identify Phishing and Spear Phishing Attempts
Phishing attacks cast a net wide with generic offers and promises in the hope of luring you into providing personal information before you realize there's a problem. Spear phishing are targeted attacks to try and get additional information from individuals who may be at risk because their account at another organization may have been hacked, their employer suffered a data breach, or some other information is already available about them. In both cases, the most beneficial skill you can learn is a healthy sense of internet skepticism.
As always, give out the minimum amount of information when required and nothing more when asked by companies or businesses that present you with forms to fill out, and never give out information—even if the requester is legit—unless you understand why they need the information and what they'll do with it. Any reputable organization will be able to answer your questions. Trust your instincts, and remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Beware Suspicious Emails and Attachments
It should be common knowledge at this stage, but you should never open attachments from untrusted sources, and even if you get one from a trusted source, you should pay attention to the file extension of the attachment before downloading and opening it. If you get an official-looking email from your bank, credit union, or another company you do business with telling you to log in and review your account, be careful. Even if it's legit, it's always safer to visit the business' web site by typing in the URL instead of clicking the link in the email.
Most companies will never email you to say you need to "verify your account information" and beg you to click a link in the message. If your email client supports it, you can hover your mouse over the link in the suspicious email to see where it really leads. Odds are it's not actually your bank's web site. Don't click, and visit your bank's web site manually or call them instead. Remember email addresses can be very easily spoofed, so even if you get a note from a name or business you trust, it could be spoofed and the URL could lead you to an unexpected location.
Photo by Jeff Nelson.
Keep Your Anti-Malware Software Up-To-Date
Even though viruses and trojans don't make headlines as often as they used to doesn't mean you can get away without some anti-malware software installed on your system. Once installed, it's equally important to keep it up to date. Out of date antivirus and anti-malware suites are effectively useless. Besides, with options like Microsoft Security Essentials for Windows and ClamXAV for Mac out there that are free, light on system resources, and both scan and update in the background without your help, there's no reason not to have something installed. If your school, office, or ISP offers an anti-malware package to you for free, make use of it.
Use HTTPS Everywhere (Or At Least Everywhere You Can)
While it's not foolproof, making sure you're connected to as many of your favorite sites over SSL is the best way to make sure you're actually talking to the site you think you're talking to, and to make sure your communications with that site are encrypted. You can use the previously mentioned HTTPS Everywhere extension for Firefox to force hundreds of sites to HTTPS, enable HTTPS on Facebook, do the same at Twitter, and check to make sure to look for the lock or the green box next to the URL in your browser's address bar to make sure the version of the site you're on is secure. If it's not, try the site address with https:// in front of it to see if it works.
Use Strong, Secure Passwords, and Different Ones On Different Sites
Good password management is a topic we've covered several times but if you're still using the same password on multiple sites or you're still using a dictionary word or your dog's name as your password, there's no time like now to make the change to a strong password that uses letters, numbers, caps, and special characters if possible. Still, even though you have a good strong password it's worthless if you use it on multiple sites and one of them is compromised. Use a service like Keepass, LastPass or another similar password manager to create, keep, and manage multiple strong passwords for all of the sites and services you use on the internet.
Be Skeptical, Be Informed, and Be Careful
That sense of internet skepticism we mentioned earlier will serve you well in many regards. It may be more inconvenient to pick up the phone and call a business that just emailed you asking for your credit card number to process a payment than it is to just reply and email it to them, but speaking as someone who used to work in corporate IT, we paid close attention when our network monitors noticed outbound emails with credit card numbers in them. Don't do it—if we could see it, others can as well. When someone asks you for something that just doesn't seem right, set it aside until you can clear up why they need the information.
If you get an message promising something—anything from a multi-million dollar cut from a foreign prince's international investments to a discount code to your favorite online retailer just for filling out a survey—learn to second-guess the offers and promotions you see on the internet and double-check their sources. Often a quick Google search for the sender or the general gist of the message with the word "scam" at the end will reveal what's really going on.
Brush up on The Federal Trade Commission's guidelines on protecting yourself from identity theft, and take a look at the federal government's tips for avoiding internet fraud at USA.gov. If it's too late or your identity is stolen anyway, both sites also have guidelines for reporting identity theft and recovering from it.
Photo by Yi Chen.
Do you have tips for avoiding fraud and identity theft online that we missed? How do you protect yourself on the web without completely disrupting your normal activities? Share your tips in the comments below.
You can reach Alan Henry, the author of this post, at alan@lifehacker.com, or better yet, follow him on Twitter or Google+.
This week is 
Friday, November 4, 2011
5 More PC Upgrade Mistakes (And How To Avoid Them) | PCWorld
As PCs get more powerful and easier to use, the challenges involved with upgrading them have remained about the same. For the novice, a hard drive upgrade can appear downright daunting. For more experienced tinkerers, the upgrade itself may be easy, but it's easier still to overlook factors that could streamline the whole process and better protect both the hardware and the data stored on it.
Last month, in "5 PC Upgrades Almost Everyone Does Wrong," I explored some common upgrade mistakes. Since so many PCWorld readers -- including a lot of seasoned upgrade veterans -- liked that collection of tips, I thought I'd follow it up with some tips that I couldn't fit into the first article. In this piece, I'll take a look at several of the most commonly overlooked details for such tasks as transferring data to a new hard drive, installing a new graphics card, updating your PC's BIOS and the firmware for your other devices, setting up a Wi-Fi network, and keeping Windows Genuine Advantage from botching an otherwise good upgrade.
Transfer Data the Easy Way
In the earlier article, I explained a few of the simple mistakes people often make when they upgrade their hard drive. What I didn't talk about was one of the most significant time wasters in the whole process: data transfer. Transferring the data from your old hard drive to a new, higher-capacity drive can take hours and hours under ideal circumstances, and choosing the wrong method can turn this into a day-long chore. That extra time really matters, since you can't use your computer while the transfer is under way.
For transferring data to a new PC, Microsoft built a utility called Easy Transfer into Windows 7 and Vista. But Easy Transfer isn't very good for transferring data from your old hard drive to a new one, because it requires you to log in and configure the transfer from one drive to another. You could use it to push all the data onto an external disk and then pull it onto the new disk, but then you would be transferring all the data twice.
An adapter like this one lets you quickly connect and disconnect a hard drive to your USB port without screwing anything in.Fortunately, a better solution comes included with drives from major vendors like Seagate and Western Digital. With Seagate's DiscWizard, you install the software on your existing hard drive before you take it out of your PC, and connect the new drive to your PC's USB port with an external enclosure or a USB to SATA/IDE adapter (the cheaper, faster option). Run DiscWizard, and copy your entire disc image to the new drive (this is known as "cloning"). When the process is finished, shut down the PC and swap the new drive--complete with all your old data exactly as it was--in for the old one. The Acronis True Image software that comes with Western Digital drives works in basically the same way.
If you're using an OEM drive that didn't come with a cloning utility, you can buy Acronis True Image as a stand-alone download for $30. It works with any drive.
Don't Forget Your BIOS
I know more than a few hardcore PC modders who are constantly swapping out CPUs, RAM, and graphics cards, but seldom give much consideration to one of the PC's most fundamental components: the BIOS. The BIOS is the basic firmware that tells the computer how to boot, how to check for connected drives, memory, and so on. As with other components, manufacturers often update the BIOS software to support new standards, fix bugs, and add features.
If you've been using the same PC (or even just the same motherboard) for a couple of years, you may be long overdue for a BIOS update. This is especially significant for people who want to add the latest high-speed drives, performance graphics cards, or new CPUs to their systems, but an up-to-date BIOS can also speed up the boot time of your PC even without other upgrades.
To see if your BIOS is up to date, check the version number that flashes on your screen during the first couple seconds of the boot process, or run msinfo32.exe. Then visit the manufacturer's website and check the support section for new BIOS downloads. These are usually listed by date and version number, making it pretty easy to determine whether you need to update or not. Just be absolutely certain that you're looking at the right BIOS for your motherboard or system model, as attempting to flash the wrong update to your PC could cause catastrophic failure (in most cases, though, the update software will simply tell you that your hardware is ineligible for the update when you've got the wrong version).
Running msinfo32.exe will bring up system information, including your BIOS version and date. (Click for full-size image.)
The actual update process is usually pretty straightforward: Shut down all programs running on your PC, and then run the update utility that you downloaded from the manufacturer's website. This utility will reboot the PC, install the update, and then reboot again. Often you'll see an immediate difference in the way the initial splash screen looks, which is a good confirmation that you've updated successfully. In some cases, you may need to copy the utility to a bootable drive (a CD or thumb drive, for example) and install it from there. In either case, make sure you don't disconnect the power cable or interrupt the update process in any way once it starts, as interrupting an update in midinstallation will typically brick your PC.
For more on updating your PC's BIOS, see Patrick Miller's excellent tutorial, "How to Upgrade Your BIOS."
Avoid Graphics Card Mishaps
More than almost any other PC component (except maybe the CPU), graphics card upgrades are often prone to basic human errors. That's because graphics card technologies change rapidly as manufacturers develop new breakthroughs to satisfy the demands of hard-core gamers. So these little (sometimes big) cards can befuddle upgraders on a number of fronts.
A graphics card upgrade can go awry in at least four common ways:
- Wrong bus interface.
- Wrong power connection(s).
- Wrong size.
- Wrong OS version.
If you're looking to buy a new graphics card, you need to make sure that your PC will support it on all four of the above fronts. Most importantl, be sure to buy the right interface. An older computer (and some newer budget PCs) may have an AGP interface rather than a PCI-Express one. Because many cards come in both AGP and PCI-Express versions, look carefully at the box or online listing to be sure you're getting the right one for your PC.
Older and low-cost computers often have fairly anemic power supplies that are incapable of supporting the latest high-powered graphics cards. Check the power rating and connector type for any card you buy and make sure the power supply in your PC lives up to it. If it doesn't, you may need to replace your power supply before swapping out your GPU. Be wary of using any power cable adapters that come included with some graphics cards, since they can't compensate for an underpowered power supply. For more on this issue, see the power supply section of "5 PC Upgrades Almost Everyone Does Wrong."Here's another basic issue: Make sure a new GPU card will fit into your PC's case before you buy it. People with slim PC towers often fall prey to this fundamental blunder.
Finally, make sure that the card you buy includes drivers for your PC's operating system. As Microsoft and graphics card makers continue to release new versions of their products, they don't always stay in sync, and some of the latest cards simply won't run on older versions of Windows.
If You Have to Reactivate Windows...
After a major hardware upgrade, Windows may prompt you to reactivate the OS with Microsoft. This is Microsoft's way of cutting down on piracy, and--while it can be annoying for a frequent upgrader--it shouldn't pose much of a problem in most cases. Here's what you need to know.
Upon initial activation, every Windows license is recorded in Microsoft's database (and on your PC) along with basic information about the PC it's installed on, such as the kind of motherboard, CPU, graphics card, and so forth, along with serial numbers of some components and other bits of data. This is sort of like a fingerprint for your PC, and Windows checks it against your actual, current configuration every time you start up. If certain elements (or too many elements) of your configuration change, Windows will ask you to reactivate the license.
In most cases, reactivating Windows involves little more than clicking Activate Now. You may need to enter your administrator password, and possibly the activation code that came with your copy of Windows.
If you've swapped out a major component, such as your motherboard, you may be prompted to phone Microsoft to reactivate. Don't freak out. I've done this myself after a complete system rebuild with all new hardware (except the hard drive and case), and the Microsoft support people didn't give me a hard time. Just explain what your situation is and they'll take care of you.
The main thing to remember is that Windows reactivation is a fairly normal part of a major hardware upgrade, so prepare for it in advance by having your Windows activation key and admin password handy before you start the upgrade. Unless you're using a copy of Windows that's not your own, that came with an OEM system, or that's still installed on another PC, Microsoft is very unlikely to hang you out to dry.
Finally, Avoid Common Wi-Fi Upgrade Woes
In the past decade, home wireless networks have gone from being esoteric, cutting-edge technology to essential household equipment. But some of today's most prevalent Wi-Fi mistakes have been with us since the beginning.
Even now that Wi-Fi is everywhere, the most egregious wireless flub we see is also the most basic. People buy a wireless router, take it out of the box, plug it in, and start using it without changing a single system setting, including the administrative password. This is shocking (or would be, if it weren't so unsurprising), since it leaves the network wide open for anybody within wireless range. So please spread the word to your less technically inclined friends, and get them to--at least--set a secure password on their router's admin account.
An even more common problem in the world of home wireless networking is a failure to update the router's firmware. Most 802.11n routers include a pretty simple administration menu to check for and install new versions of the firmware that runs the router itself, yet hardly anybody ever uses it. If you can't recall the last time you updated your router, log into it and look for a tab or menu option labeled something like Firmware or Update (the terminology varies from device to device, so check your manual if you don't spot it). Typically, you'll need to click a button to check for new firmware, and then click an option to install a new version if there is one. Leave the router alone while it does its thing, and it'll reboot itself automatically when the update is complete. In most cases, there will be no need to reenter any settings after the update.For more on protecting your wireless network, see Becky Waring's "How to Enhance and Secure Your Wi-Fi Network."
Write Down What You Want to Remember NOW—Before You Leave the Room via lifehacker.com by Melanie Pinola
Ever have a brilliant idea and then walk into another room only to find your idea vanished (poof!)? A new study suggests it's not just you: Walking through a doorway makes it harder to remember thoughts from the previous room.
In two studies, researchers found that participants' memory performance was poorer after they walked through a doorway than if they stayed put in a room. The researchers theorize that the doorway serves as an event boundary where new memory episodes are created, thus hampering recall of prior memories.
Another interpretation, BPS Research Digest says, is that the increased forgetting wasn't about the "boundary effect of a doorway" but that the context had changed. In other words, participants had better memory about objects in the room where they created those objects.
Yesterday I had a brilliant idea—I think. I can't remember because between having the idea on my first floor then walking up the stairs to my office, the idea vanished. I blame the stairs.
So next time you want to remember something, don't leave the room before you write it down.
Photo remixed from an original by Dominic Alves.
How Walking Through a Doorway Increases Forgetting | Research Digest
You can follow or contact Melanie Pinola, the author of this post, on Twitter or Google+.
Ever have a brilliant idea and then walk into another room only to find your idea vanished (poof!)? A new study suggests it's not just you: Walking through a doorway makes it harder to remember thoughts from the previous room. Monday, October 17, 2011
Configure iCloud for Multiple Apple IDs via lifehacker.com
If your family uses one Apple ID to purchase music and apps and have more than one iPhone or iPod Touch you probably won't want to share the same Apple ID account for iCloud on each phone. Doing so would sync the same contacts, inbox, bookmarks and other personal settings. Instead, create a new Apple ID for each person using iCloud and specify in your settings which Apple ID is to be used for purchases and which to use for iCloud.
MacWorld magazine reports that Apple approves of using multiple Apple ID accounts for this purpose and also recommends configuring iMessage to use your new unique Apple ID created for iCloud.
This way you, your spouse, and your teen can all share the same account for purchasing music and apps yet you each have a free 5GB iCloud account for your personal data. As long as you specify which application should use the proper Apple ID there should be no sharing of iCloud data between family users.
If your family uses one Apple ID to purchase music and apps and have more than one iPhone or iPod Touch you probably won't want to share the same Apple ID account for iCloud on each phone. Doing so would sync the same contacts, inbox, bookmarks and other personal settings. Instead, create a new Apple ID for each person using iCloud and specify in your settings which Apple ID is to be used for purchases and which to use for iCloud. Hold Off From Cleaning Your Barbecue Grill Until Spring via lifehacker.com
If you're getting ready to put the barbecue grill away for winter, organization blog Unclutterer suggests leaving the baked-on crust intact on the grill to keep it from rusting.
You still need to wipe down your grill if you're storing it for winter, but if you keep yourself from scrubbing it clean before it gets cold, the coating on the metal grate will ensure no air or water come into contact with it, which keeps it from rusting. Come spring, you can get to the deep cleaning by heating it over an open flame for around ten minutes and then scrubbing the coating off with ease. Photo by Ben Bosma.
Clean your barbecue grill? Might want to wait until spring | Unclutterer
If you're getting ready to put the barbecue grill away for winter, organization blog Unclutterer suggests leaving the baked-on crust intact on the grill to keep it from rusting.Monday, August 15, 2011
Top 10 Ways to Survive Your Crappy Job
Your job sucks and for whatever reason you can't leave. At the same time, if you don't leave you're pretty sure you're going to lose your mind. What can you do about it? Here are our top 10 strategies.
10. Get Some Perspective
Today is one day out of your entire life. Unless you're going to die soon, it's probably not going to be that big of a deal. If it's one of your days off, you may find yourself doing nothing because you want to figure out the best way to spend such limited time. If it's one of your work days, there will be other days where other things happen. Whatever the moment is, it's a blip in your life. Chances are you won't remember it in a week. That's not to say you shouldn't pay attention to what you truly care about, but you shouldn't dwell on it either. You have food, a place to live, and something to do most days. You probably have fun once in a while. Maybe you even have people who care about you. Focus on the good stuff, and remember the rest is going to be a distant memory very quickly. Spending your time moaning to yourself (and others) about how awful your job is won't solve the problem. Just don't do it, and focus on the positive.
9. Bring Yourself to Work
Presumably you're already doing this in the physical sense, but if you have a creative side or other interests it can make your job more fun if you find ways to integrate them. One of my primary duties at a job a long time ago involved addressing catalogs for an advertising school. I made this more fun by illustrating the envelopes based on the person's name. Eventually some people called because they liked it and I was given some design work. At another job we had to learn a new product the company acquired that made online slideshows by actually using it to make one. I wrote a song about a womanizing spatula named Denny who finally met the woman (or, well, "female" inanimate object) of his dreams, took some photos of household objects, and put together a stop motion music video. Also, the entire thing was in Google-translated Spanish. Whenever my job got me down, either because it was boring or I just needed something to break the monotony, I'd try to bring something I enjoyed to the work. Obviously this takes more time, but all the little strange things I did at those jobs are my favorite memories. While not every job will let you bring your (potentially strange) personality to the table, I highly recommend doing it if you can find a way. Nothing brightened up the day more.
8. Watch Out for False Starts
Bad days generally occur when a number of little frustrations happen in succession. On their own they might not be a big deal and you'd go on forgetting about them, but together they make you think the universe is plotting against you. These are false starts, and they're often the root of bad days. When things appear to be going worse than usual, take a step back and look at what happened. You are not so important that an entire day has been set aside specifically for your personal misery. Dissect each moment, realize your being ridiculous, and make fun of yourself when you can. If you look at a situation realistically, you can sometimes stop a potential bad day before it starts.
7. Be Healthy
A balanced mind and body makes a big difference when it comes to everything that you do—even the things you don't like. The idea isn't to just become a person who hates their job with fancy muscles, but to allow your physical and mental needs to take precedence over pretty much everything else. For starters, decide when you have to go to bed each night (it can be a range) and follow it. Find exercise you can and will do 3-4 times per week and do it. Don't worry about how minimal it is. Start making some cheap and healthy food. Set aside some time each day to just relax and do nothing. Schedule it all if you need to, but make sure you don't let your job get int the way of your well-being. If you already don't like it, neglecting your health is going to make it much, much worse.
6. Block Out Negative Conversation
Complaining about your job can be fun because it seems cathartic, but venting your frustration will only make your anger worse. If that negativity spreads to your coworkers, you can exacerbate the problem by creating a hive mentality, or at least making everyone more miserable as a result. While you don't want to bottle up your feelings until you go postal one day, you don't have to approach everything negatively. Instead of complaining, consider solutions. Try to find ways to improve things. If you can't change the way things work in the office, consider ways to help you cope with those problems. Being more proactive and less negative may not fix everything, but it can improve your situation.
5. Take a Pay Cut
Seriously. Take a pay cut and get some extra job flexibility in return. Apparently many of you wouldn't mind that option at all, and your company probably would love to pay you less. If you want to cut back on your hours, work from home on occasion, or get some other benefit that's important to you, ask for a pay cut in exchange. You might just get it, and that benefit may make you a lot happier than money.
4. Get Along With Your Co-Workers
When you hate your job, it's easy to not want to get involved with your co-workers. Doing so means getting attached, and you don't want to feel attached to any kind of employment that's destroying your livelihood. That said, if you have friends at work you have people to make you less miserable. Also, according to one study, you might actually live longer. Even if you don't think you'll get along with certain people in the office, give it a shot. If it doesn't work out, you can always just go back to being a loner.
3. Find Balance
Finding balance is easier said than done, but small, strategic changes can make a big difference. Sometimes it's not so much that the work you do is soul suckingly awful, but that it's consuming your life. Rather than find a new job and end up in the same situation all over again, stick with the one you've got and and pay attention to the small things. Take note of the little moments that make you happy and those that drive you up the wall. Try to remove the details you hate and replace it with more of the details you like. Big, grand decisions can be pleasing for a short amount of time, but if you never fix the little problems and neglect to embrace the little moments of happiness, history will be doomed to repeat itself.
2. Learn to Deal With Your Crazy Boss
If work sucks, chances are your boss has something to do with it. But you can learn to cope. One way to deal with your boss' insanity is to create some distance. For example, see if you can have your assignments filtered though someone else. You may also want to keep a crazy log and get as much as you can in writing so should things ever get so bad that you need to go to human resources you will be prepared. Just be sure not to engage your boss in a crazy contest, because they're probably better at it than you are. For more details, read this.
1. Just Quit
If you're truly at the end of your rope and there's no way you'll survive much longer, you need to create a quitting plan. Yes, you think you have to stay to pay your rent, and yes, you think you'll never find another job in this market. Save up enough money to make it at least one month and then you need to quit. You can take a few days to relax and recoup but then you have the rest of that month to find another place to work. There's no better motivator than potential homelessness. Plus, you'll have all those work hours to dedicate to your search. At eight hours a day, that comes out to about 180 hours for the month (give or take a few). That's a lot of time. If you're diligent and use that time wisely, you should be able to find something else.
Got any other strategies for surviving a crappy job? Share 'em in the comments!
Title photo by Angela Waye (Shutterstock)
You can follow Adam Dachis, the author of this post, on Twitter, Google+, and Facebook. Twitter's the best way to contact him, too.
Your job sucks and for whatever reason you can't leave. At the same time, if you don't leave you're pretty sure you're going to lose your mind. What can you do about it? Here are our top 10 strategies. 
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Email Sucks. 5 Time Saving Tips.
My stats:
938 unread work emails.
1002 unread personal emails.The madness has to stop. What was once a 30 minute annoyance is now my full-time job. Here are 5 time saving tips:
#5: Add a http://three.sentenc.es/ email signature and keep them short.
"Treat all email responses like SMS text messages, using a set number of letters per response. Since it’s too hard to count letters, we count sentences instead.
three.sentenc.es is a personal policy that all email responses regardless of recipient or subject will be three sentences or less. It’s that simple."
Example signature:
--------------------------------------------
Q: Why is this email three sentences or less?
A: http://three.sentenc.es
--------------------------------------------#4: Type "Sent from iPhone" under your short responses. People don't expect long responses when you're on your phone. Don't forget to mispell a few words.
This all looks graet +1!!
Sent from iPhone.#3: Create a 'VIP' filter. Add your boss, investors, and close friends. Flag them red and throw them in a separate folder. This is the first place I check every morning.
#2: (Gmail only) Keep the spam out. If you're giving your address to a potentially shady website, tack on +spam to the end, example: yourname+spam@gmail.com. You can then filter those emails into a spam folder you check periodically. (ProTip: the +spam is a variable that can be anything you want, eg. yourname+football@gmail.com etc., make as many as you like)
#1: (Apple Mail or similar program) Setup an email bankruptcy filter. This is a little bit of a dick move, but if you're getting hundreds of new emails a day, it just might work.
Step 1: Create a filter that auto-responds to all unopened emails > 14 days old w/the following message:
Your email (below) is now 14 days old and has not been opened. To minimize email buildup your email has now been placed in the archive. Should you still require a response simply respond back and you'll automatically be added to the priority queue. Thank you.
Step 2: Setup another filter that looks for the text "Your email (below)", this will catch the email responses back to you from those still requiring your response. Filter these into a special folder you check and respond to daily.
Good luck!
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Drink a Glass of Milk to Neutralize Garlic Breath [Food Hacks]
Drink a Glass of Milk to Neutralize Garlic Breath
Scientists looking deep into garlic odor recently came to the conclusion that it's water and fat that reduce garlic breath, so milk is the perfect delivery vehicle. Consider milk, or a non-skim latte, or even ice cream, as a post-pasta breath fixer.
Image by striatic.
The recent study, from the Journal of Food Science, found that if you really want to cut back on garlic odors that find their way out of your mouth (and sweat), you should drink milk as you're eating, if that's at all palatable:
Mixing milk with garlic in the mouth before swallowing had a higher odour neutralising effect than drinking milk after eating the garlic in the trial.
And full-fat milk provided better results than skimmed milk or just water, according to breath samples taken from a volunteer.
One of the compounds milk counteracts is allyl methyl sulphide or AMS. This cannot be broken down in the gut during digestion, and so it is released from the body in the breath and sweat.
From the study, it seems that any food with a decent mixture of fat and water should help move garlic quickly through your system, so a latte, ice cream, yogurt, and other dairy-style foods should work, too.
Send an email to Kevin Purdy, the author of this post, at kevin@lifehacker.com.
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Stash Ice in a Colander for Drip-Free Ice [Clever Uses]
Stash Ice in a Colander for Drip-Free Ice
As a party progresses, your ice bucket inevitably fills with water as the ice melts. Avoid a bucket of soaked ice by adding a colander to your your ice bucket.
Household tips magazine Real Simple shares how you can serve your guests clean and drip-free ice that hasn't been sloshing around in a water logged ice bucket for the last hour:
At a party, stash ice in a colander set on top of a bucket or a bowl. Water will drain out, and guests will get only the solid stuff.
It's a simple thing but it cuts down on the drips all over the counter, your guests hands, and their glasses. For more clever entertaining tricks make sure to check out how to mark drinks with rubber bands or window markers, and how to keep candle wax off cakes with Life Savers. Have a clever party trick to share? Let's hear about it in the comments.
50 All-Time Favorite New Uses for Old Things [Real Simple]Send an email to Jason Fitzpatrick, the author of this post, at jason@lifehacker.com.
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'); The Cheapest Time to Book a Flight Is Eight Weeks Before You're Traveling [Saving Money]
The Cheapest Time to Book a Flight Is Eight Weeks Before You're Traveling
Economist Makoto Watanabe worked out a formula designed to calculate the best time to buy an airline ticket if you're looking for the lowest prices. The answer, according to his formula: eight weeks before your flight.
Photo by Arturo de Albornoz.
Like any such rule, I'm sure you'll find plenty of exceptions, but if you don't enjoy spending a lot of time agonizing about when to buy an airline ticket, it's a good rule of thumb to have on hand. In addition to the eight-week rule, Watanabe's formula also suggests that tickets are cheapest in the afternoon, according to The Observer. We can't explain all the science to you [apparently the eight-week formula looks a little something like ∏A = gUG + min(k - g, (1 - g)(1 - r))], and the findings, which will be published in the Economic Journal, aren't yet available.
If you're not flexible enough to book right at the eight week point, consider fare prediction tools like Bing's Farecast. You can plug in your travel dates and destinations, and it'll give you its best-guess prediction as to whether you should expect a fare drop or increase, and offer a suggestion to help you decide if you should buy now or wait. We've also heard that Wednesday is the best day of the week to buy tickets, though not everyone agrees on that suggestion. Last, if you're really serious about finding cheap airfare, check out Erica's frequent flier guide to buying cheap airline tickets.
Got a little anecdotal evidence of your own to add? Let's hear it in the comments.
Why ∏A = gUG + min(k-g, (1-g)(1-r)) equals low airline fares [The Observer via @rosa]Send an email to Adam Pash, the author of this post, at tips+adam@lifehacker.com.
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