Lifehacker: 88 Tech Tricks to Turbocharge Your Day

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     xxi
Introduction     xxiii
Free Up Mental RAM     1
Email Your Future Self     2
Manage a todo.txt File at the Command Line     5
The Command Line Interface     5
Why Plain Text?     6
Install todo.sh     6
Using todo.sh     8
Create a Sortable, Searchable todo.txt     8
Prioritize Tasks     10
More Uses for todo.txt     11
Develop Your (Digital) Photographic Memory     12
Tag Your Photos on Flickr     12
Upload Photos to Flickr from Your Camera Phone     12
Your Photo Reference     14
Install Your Personal Wikipedia     15
What You Need     16
What to Do     16
You're Ready to Go     18
Brief Wikitext Primer     19
Keep an Instiki Wiki Hyperlinked Notebook     20
Installing Instiki     20
You're Ready to Go     22
Securing and Accessing Your Wiki     25
Take Great Notes     25
Symbolize Next Actions     26
Split Your Page into Quadrants     26
Record and Summarize     26
Create Your Own Custom Note Paper     28
References     28
Firewall Your Attention     29
Limit Access to Time-Wasting Web Sites     30
Install the Invisibility Cloak     31
Set Which Sites Should Wear the Cloak     32
Customize the Script     33
Permanently Block Time-Wasting Web Sites     35
Windows     36
MacOSX     36
The Result     36
Reduce Email Interruptions     37
Shut Down Your Email Program     37
Set Your Client to Check for Messages Once an Hour     38
Split Your Work Among Multiple Desktops     39
Windows XP     39
Mac OS X     41
Build a No-fly Zone     42
Set Yourself up to Get into the Zone     42
Make Yourself Inaccessible     42
Work at Quieter Times and in Zoned-Off Spaces     43
Filter Low-Priority Email Messages     43
Filter Low-Priority Messages     44
Filter CC'ed Messages     45
Clear Your Desktop     46
Windows     46
MacOSX     47
Make Your House a Usable Home     48
Create a Place for Incoming Stuff     48
Put Items You Need to Remember in Your Path     49
Stow Away Shiff You Don't Use; Put Stuff You Do Within Easy Reach     49
Strategically Place Items to Make Tasks Easy     49
Make Task-Based Centers     50
Leave Writing Material Everywhere     50
Set up an Inbox     50
Collaborate with Housemates     50
Sentence stuff to Death Row     51
Drown out Sound with Pink Noise     51
Mac OS X     52
Windows     52
Keep Software from Stealing Focus     52
References     53
Automate Repetitive Tasks     55
Automatically Back up Your Files     56
What You'll Need     56
Configure the Backup System     57
Off-Site Backup     61
Automatically Defragment Your Hard Drive     62
Automatically Empty Your Digital Junk Drawer     65
Automatically Download Music, Movies, and More     69
Install and Run Wget     69
Mirror an Entire Web Site     70
Resume Partial Downloads on an Intermittent Connection     71
Automatically Download New Music from the Web     72
Automate wget Downloads on Windows     72
Automatically Email Yourself File Backups     73
Set up the Email Script     73
More on Emailing Yourself Backups     75
Automatically Reboot and Launch Applications     76
Automatically Reboot Your Computer     76
Automatically Launch Software or Documents     11
Automatically Start a Web Browsing Session     78
Automatically Log Your Progress in a Spreadsheet     79
References     81
Streamline Common Tasks     83
Search the Web in Three Keystrokes     84
Quick-Launch Software Applications     85
Windows: Essential, Built-in Keyboard Shortcuts     86
Windows: Define Your Own Keyword Shortcuts     87
Mac OS X: Quicksilver Keyboard Commander     89
Save Time with Text Substitution     90
AutoHotkey Hotstring     90
Personalize the Script     92
Text Message Efficiently     95
What You Can Do with SMS     95
Quick Start Guide for SMS Beginners     96
Save Your Thumbs     96
SMS from Your Computer     96
Batch Resize Photos     97
Send and Receive Money on Your Cell Phone      98
PayPal Mobile     99
Send Money to an Email Address     100
PayPal Alternative     101
Bypass Free Site Registration with BugMeNot     101
Speed up Web Pages on a Slow Internet Connection     103
Configure Your Web Browser for a Slow Connection     103
Block and Disable Bandwidth Hogs     105
Use Tabs to Load Pages While You Work     105
Work Offline Wherever Possible     106
Securely Save Web Site Passwords     106
Get Your Data to Go     109
Carry Your Life on a Flash Drive     110
Portable Applications     110
Useful Data to Store on Your Thumb Drive     112
Secure Your Drive     112
Using Your Thumb Drive     114
Run a Home Web Server     114
Disable Other Servers or Firewall Software     115
Install Apache HTTP Server     115
Configure Apache to Share Documents     117
Password-Protect Your Web Site Documents     118
Remote Control Your Home Computer     120
Install the VNC Server     122
Install the VNC Client     123
More Tips     123
Give Your Home Computer a Web Address      124
Set Up Your DynDNS Account     125
Set up Your Computer to Update DynDNS     125
Give Your New Domain a Spin     126
DynDNS Options     126
Search the Web from Your Phone     126
Get Help     129
Test Drive SMS Search on the Web     129
Pre-Schedule Search Result SMS Alerts     129
Optimize Your Laptop     130
Extend Your Battery Life     130
Save Your Keyboard and Screen     131
Keep It Cool     131
Set Yourself up to Work Offline     131
Secure Your Data     132
Carry with Care     132
Backup     132
Pack Helpful Extras     132
Find a Hotspot     133
Back up Data to Your iPod     133
Encrypt Your Data     134
Take Your Software with You on the iPod     135
Turn Your Cell Phone into a Modem     135
What You'll Need     135
Configure Your Cell Phone as a Modem     136
Keep an Eye on the Meter     138
Use Gmail as an Internet Hard Drive     138
Windows: Gmail Drive Extension     138
Mac OS X: gDisk      140
Control Your Email     141
Craft Effective Messages     142
Composing New Messages     142
Replying to a Message     146
Highlight Messages Sent Directly to You     148
Color Me Blue     149
All Other Email Programs: Create a Not-to-Me Filter     149
Use Disposable Email Addresses     150
Web-Based Public Email Addresses     150
Multi-Domain Email Addresses     150
Decrease Your Email Response Time     151
Respond in Batches     151
The One-Minute Rule     152
Respond to Task Requests - Even When It's Not Done     152
Don't Leave It in Your Inbox     153
Empty Your Inbox (and Keep It Empty)     153
The Trusted Trio     153
What to Do     154
Keep It Empty     155
The Catch     155
Master Message Search     156
Search Criteria     156
Saved Search Folders     159
Future-Proof Your Email Address     160
DON'Ts     160
DO's     161
Bottom Line     161
Script Repetitive Responses     162
Encrypt Private Email      164
How PGP Email Encryption Works     165
Configure PGP in Thunderbird     165
References     167
Organize Your Stuff     169
Organize My Documents     170
A Word About the Windows XP Default Home Directory     172
Beyond the Big 6     173
Instantly Retrieve Files from Your Hard Drive     173
Google Desktop Installation     174
Configuration     174
Files Google Desktop Indexes     175
Search Operators     176
Overhaul Your Filing Cabinet     178
Give Your Paperwork a Spacious Place to Live     178
Limit One File Folder Per Hanging Folder     178
Choose a Simple, Logical Naming Scheme     179
Use a Label Maker     179
Purge and Archive     179
Choose Secure, Memorable Passwords     180
Don't Use the Same Password for Everything     180
Remember 100 Different Passwords with One Rule Set     180
Securely Track Your Passwords     182
One Master Password to Rule All     182
Find and Use Your Passwords with KeePass     185
Tag Your Bookmarks     186
Getting Started with del.icio.us      186
Add a Bookmark     187
Tags, Not Folders     187
Navigating del.icio.us by URL     188
Other del.icio.us Features     189
Encrypt Your Data     189
Set up the Encrypted Volume Location     190
Store and Retrieve Files from the Encrypted Volume     191
Design Your Own Planner     193
Why Build Your Own Planner?     194
How to Assemble Your D*I*Y Planner     194
D*I*Y Planner Templates and Sizes     194
References     195
Kickstart Your Productivity     197
Make Your To-Do's Doable     198
Finish Thinking Before You Start Doing     198
Chunk up Your Tasks into Five-Minute Actions     199
Get Physical     200
Include as Much Information as Possible     200
Essential Elements of a To-Do Task     200
Purge Your List     200
Keep an Auxiliary Someday/Maybe List     201
Setup a Morning Dash     201
Get One Thing Done First     201
Park on a Downward Slope     202
Map Your Time     202
Your Ideal Time Map     203
Sub-Maps     204
Your Actual Time Map     204
Quick-Log Your Work Day     204
How to Keep Your Work Log     205
Dash Through Tasks with a Timer     209
Choose Your Timer     210
Adjust Your Dash     210
Employing Constraints     210
Timer Software Applications     211
Control Your Workday     211
Get Your Priorities Straight     212
Stop up Your Time Sinks     213
Make Post-Work Appointments     213
Wrap-up Alerts     213
Turn Tasks into Gameplay7     213
Make It to the Next Level     214
Earn Points     214
Collaborate, Compete, and Reward     214
Bribe Yourself     215
Time Yourself     215
Schedule Think Time     215
What You Need for Think Time     215
Creating Think Time     216
References     216
Master the Web     219
Google Like a Fro     220
Exact Phrase with Quotations     221
Include and Exclude Words with + and -     221
Search Within a Site     221
Search Certain Types of Files     222
Calculations      222
Synonyms     223
Combine Criteria and Operators     223
Subscribe to Web Sites with RSS     224
How to Subscribe to Web Site Feeds     224
Other Popular Feedreaders     226
Dynamic Feeds     226
Quick Search Dependable Engines     227
Download Bookmark Set     228
Lifehacker Quick Searches     229
Extend Your Web Browser     230
How to Install a Firefox Extension     230
Recommended Firefox Extensions     232
Get 10 Must-Have Bookmarklets     234
Get Your Data on a Map     236
Set Multiple Sites as Your Homepage     238
Multi-Tab Homepage     238
Bookmark Sets of Tabs     239
Open a Set of Tabs     239
Access Unavailable Web Sites via Google     240
Take Your Browser Configuration with You     241
Find out About a Web Site     243
View Site Traffic and Related Information with Alexa     243
See What Others Are Saying About a Site in Technorati     244
View Past Versions of a Site in the Internet Archive     244
See What Sites Link to a Site with Google and Yahoo!     244
Have a Say in What Google Says About You     245
But I Already Have a Web Site     245
Get Your Domain     245
Author Your Nameplate     246
Find a Web Host     246
Link up Your Name Site     247
Capture Web Clippings with Google Notebook     247
Clear Your Web Browsing Tracks     249
Internet Explorer 6 (Windows XP)     249
Internet Explorer 7 (Windows Vista)     251
Mozilla Firefox     251
References     251
Tune Your Computer     253
Save Your PC from Malware     254
Symptoms     254
Malware Removal and Prevention Tools     255
How to Clean an Infected System     255
Virus Protection     257
Web Browser Hijacking     258
Clean up Your Startup     259
Start Menu (Easy)     259
System Configuration Utility (Medium)     260
AutoRuns (Advanced)     261
Undo System Configuration Changes     262
Create or Restore a Saved Point with System Restore     263
When System Restore Takes Snapshots     263
Limit System Restore's Disk Usage     264
Truly Delete Data from Your Hard Drive      265
Windows     265
Mac OS X     266
Firewall Your Computer     267
Does Your Computer Need a Firewall?     267
ZoneAlarm Software Firewall     268
Control What Programs Can Connect to the Internet     268
Free up Hard Drive Space     270
Visualize Disk Hogs     270
Clean Your Entire System with CCleaner     272
Resurrect Deleted Files     272
How to Restore Deleted Files     272
Recover Files from an Unbootable PC     274
What You Need     274
Prepare Your Knoppix Disk     275
Set Your Computer to Boot from the CD or DVD Drive     275
Start Knoppix     276
Rescue Your Data     277
Index     279