Lifehacker, tips and downloads for getting things done

Linux

Learn Linux with Basic Commands

If you've ever wanted a handy guide of Linux commands, look no further than the One Page Linux Manual. Learn the commands to move files, mount filesystems, change permissions, and print items (among other things) with this short guide that explains each command and describes what it does. Since the guide is about 8 years old, a small handful of the listed commands may not apply to your Linux distribution, but even so, it's a handy reference for the common commands that don't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.

3:00 PM ON SAT DEC 8 2007
BY TAMAR WEINBERG
3,405 views, 5 comments

Latest by jtimberman: This is an okay "guide" to get started. Definitely consult your distribution's documentation for configuration file and command locations if you're interested in using a command-line interface. Also note that this isn't as relevant for newer users these days as more »

Health

Get Fit in 10 Minutes

Have you ever felt that there are just too few hours in the day to squeeze in a fitness routine? You're not alone. The Revolution Health guide feels your pain and suggests 25 ways to fit in some exercise. For example, doing jumping jacks for 5-minutes can get your heart rate up. If you're waiting for something (a friend after class, a child after practice, etc.), take a quick walk. Instead of using the elevator, climb stairs. If you're traveling, avoid the mechanized "moving carpets" and walk the distance instead. The article targets itself to women, but these are practices that can be implemented by anyone, and these small workouts ultimately all add up to improve your lifestyle.
more »

2:00 PM ON SAT DEC 8 2007
BY TAMAR WEINBERG
4,165 views, 6 comments

Latest by Jasoncscs: I love these little "fitness" routines, years ago when I was a bike messenger I used to do push ups in the elevator with my bag on while I went to my floor. But the problem , especially in the headline more »

Email alerts

Hands Free Reminders with HassleMe

Gently remind yourself and others of upcoming tasks via email with web app HassleMe. HassleMe is similar to FutureMail but is more appropriate for tasks that you know you should be doing but just keep forgetting to actually do. You can setup recurring reminders to get a haircut, go to the gym, eat your vegetables, etc. Conveniently, HassleMe wraps the registration process into your first reminder. What reminders do you need? Share in the comments.

12:00 PM ON SAT DEC 8 2007
BY KYLE POTT
1,384 views, 4 comments

Latest by noodles and beef: For those of us that are trying to escape email and use RSS, there is always FeedMinder. more »

Weekend project

Manage Your Finances Using an Excel Workbook

Get your expenses in order before the holidays with free ebook Within Your Means: Financial Planning for Hidden Expenses. Writer Michael Ham rolled an ebook and an Excel workbook together into one hybrid financial management tool. In addition to learning about implicit and explicit costs, you interact directly with the workbook by entering your income, expenses, and goals. A series of interrelated Excel formulas slowly molds a snapshot of your current financial situation.

An Excel workbook to help you create a budget that recognizes not only your explicit expenses (rent/mortgage, utilities, groceries, auto insurance and registration, and the like), but also implicit expenses: the money you implicitly spend by gradually wearing out things you must replace (car, tires, mattress, TV, furniture, and the like).

I spent an hour going through the workbook earlier this week and was pleased at how well the workbook complemented traditional financial software like Quicken, Money, Wesabe, and Mint.

11:00 AM ON SAT DEC 8 2007
BY KYLE POTT
4,873 views, 10 comments

Latest by mordecai: nice. for some reason, I feel like I'll actually use this. more »

Email

Spoof Your Outgoing Email Address with Acebird.com

Send outgoing email messages from a different email address using Acebird.com. Acebird is a web app that seems to do the impossible. You can send email that appears to come from any email address (even those that you don't own). At first blush, Acebird seems like a very controversial application. While Acebird certainly has many practical applications, it can also be used to do heavy damage. Nevertheless, if you ever have a legitimate need to send email from someone else's account, Acebird is a good way to go about doing so. There are two ways that I've been able to identify email coming from Acebird: the mailed-by server is "gator344.hostgator.co" (when it should be something more recognizable like "gmail.com"), and there is no way to customize the name of the sender. Other than that, the email sent by Acebird appears totally legit. Anyone else freaked out?

10:00 AM ON SAT DEC 8 2007
BY KYLE POTT
5,054 views, 37 comments

Latest by Jamez: This would have been amazingly helpful for me 3 days ago, but meh. Regardless, the site is down completely, and I don't see it going back up any time soon. more »

How To

Lead Your Boss

Stephen Covey, author of bestseller The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, writes in his blog that you can take control of your professional career by influencing your boss. The key is to empathize.

Think of your boss's challenges, problems, concerns, and future plans-this is empathy. With empathy and anticipation you can act independently of your boss to deal with concerns and discover opportunities and underlying threats. By acting independently and keeping your boss's needs in mind (or the company's needs) you are, in effect, leading.

Emphasizing with your boss gives you the upper hand and allows you to be more productive. By looking at the bigger picture—what your manager wants and why he wants it—you can sway your boss with additional deliverables that can then be implemented into regular business practice. more »

9:00 AM ON SAT DEC 8 2007
BY TAMAR WEINBERG
2,990 views, 9 comments

Latest by tamar: Thanks all for the spelling error. Fixing now. :) more »

tgif

This Week's Best Posts

Lifehacker post unread count too high? Subscribe to only the cream of the crop with our daily, trimmed-down top stories feed or once-weekly highlights feed. This week's best posts include:

Master Your DSLR Camera, Part 2: Manual Mode and More
"In part one of this series you kicked your digital SLR camera's auto mode to the curb...now in part two we're going straight to manual mode to learn about aperture sizes and shutter speeds."
How to Track Down Anyone Online
"While there's still no killer, one-stop people search, there are more ways than ever to track down a long-lost friend, stalk an ex, or screen a potential date or employee."
The 20 Best iPod Utilities
"But with the help of third party applications and utilities, you can unlock tons of useful functionality you never knew was there and revive that aging iPod so it doesn't look quite so bad next to its successors."
Top 10 Free Windows File Wranglers
"You spend a whole lot of time each day moving, copying, trashing, browsing, and otherwise fiddling with all the files stored on your PC, and you should have the most efficient power tools to get those jobs done."
Quicksilver's Creator on the Future of QS
"I'm inclined to encourage users to move over to the more stable and well supported alternatives like LaunchBar."
Score Rock Band or a Wii this Christmas
"It's been a year since the Wii was first released in the U.S. and you're still trying to secure the elusive game console for your living room? Wired's got the inside scoop on how to score a Wii for under your tree this Christmas."
How to Climb Out of $35,000 in Debt
"Personal finance writer J.D. Roth is walkin' the walk over at his site Get Rich Slowly, where he just celebrated eliminating $35,000 worth of debt. That's 35 THOUSAND DOLLARS."
Roll Your Own Professionally Designed Web Site
"Open Source Web Design (OSWD) collects web site templates from amateurs and professionals and makes them available to download free of charge."
Open Clamshell Packaging with a Can Opener
"The gift-giving season is upon us, and that means the battle between you and the stubborn plastic clamshell packaging standing between you and your new gadget is in full swing."

9:00 PM ON FRI DEC 7 2007
1,166 views

Driving

Coffee Better Than Napping for the Sleepy Driver

The New York Times looks into which option is better to help sleepy drivers stay alert: a nap or a cup of joe. In a study conducted by French researches to determine which better helped drivers avoid crossing the center line, it looks like coffee wins out, but how well it works depends on your age.

For middle-aged drivers, aged 40 to 50, coffee was a far better choice. Caffeinated coffee lowered risk for these drivers by 89 percent, while the nap only reduced line crossings by 23 percent. But among younger drivers, a nap was almost as effective as caffeine. Among 20- to 25-year-old drivers, the risk of line-crossing fell by 66 percent after a nap, and 74 percent after drinking caffeinated coffee.

Of course, it only stands to reason that you could improve your alertness even more with the ever-popular caffeine nap. Now that's a winner. Photo by aphasiafilms.

8:00 PM ON FRI DEC 7 2007
BY ADAM PASH
3,395 views, 14 comments

Latest by okalex: Does anyone else think that picture looks like a baby with a grown man's head? Creepy. more »

Holidays

DIY Christmas Cards Roundup

If you send out Christmas cards every year, you know that buying cards can be a spendy endeavor. So in the spirit of saving money this holiday season but not skimping on the cool-factor of your cards, we're rounding up a few very cool, very 3-D DIY Christmas cards that'll help you spread a little holiday cheer without breaking the bank. more »

7:00 PM ON FRI DEC 7 2007
BY ADAM PASH
3,918 views, 7 comments

Leopard Tip

Take a Quick Look at Your Trash

Leopard users: One simple annoyance when browsing the Trash on your Mac is that Finder won't allow you to open a file from the Trash. Your Mac may have good reasons for it, but this can be particularly frustrating when you're ready to empty the Trash but you want to make sure you don't actually need that ambiguously named file. That's because you can't open files that are in the Trash. If you try to, you'll get a message saying the file can't be opened because it's in the Trash, and if you want to open it, you'll need to drag it out of the Trash—which is kind of a pain. But weblog TUAW points out that Quick Look works with files in the Trash, meaning you can get a quick look (!) at the file to make sure it's ready for oblivion.

6:00 PM ON FRI DEC 7 2007
BY ADAM PASH
1,511 views, Comment

Project Management

Free Project Manager Project2Manage

Just-launched webapp Project2Manage tracks multiple projects, to-do's, milestones, clients and companies for free online. Great for small or side businesses, consultants, or just a group of friends working on something, you can set up several users in your Project2Manage account, create to-do lists, assign tasks to users, set milestones with dates, post messages, and track project activity with RSS. While the interface is slick and modern, Project2Manage isn't quite as polished as Basecamp, and it includes advertising. However, for folks who don't want to pay for Basecamp's features, Project2Manage looks like a solid alternative.

5:21 PM ON FRI DEC 7 2007
BY GINA TRAPANI
3,873 views, 5 comments

Latest by bosworth: I agree. Project2manage isn't quite up to lifehacker standards as it is. I think I'll leave them to it and check back in 6 months - until then I'll still manage with txt todos and spreadsheet Gantt charts plus e-mail more »

Office Supplies Fetish

Restickable Glue Stick Makes Sticky Notes

Post-It notes don't have to be boring, square, and yellow any more: make your own sticky notes with any size and color paper with the Scotch Restickable Adhesive Glue Stick. Just apply the magic sticky stuff to the back of any piece of paper, and stick and re-stick it anywhere you'd like. Over at the Cool Tools weblog, reader Bill says it helps him GTD:

I use it to make my various Getting Things Done/43 folders items and tasks stay put in my handheld binder. I jot my items and tasks down on variously colored pieces of paper of whatever size I need, rub the magic stickum on them, and they stay put in my binder until I decide to move them around. My inner child is happy because I get to play with stickers and glue; my inner adult is happy because I can continually and easily refine my GTD system.

Sounds like a good stocking stuffer for the crafty person in your life, too. The Restickable Glue Stick costs more than a regular glue stick, about $1.20 a pop (at Amazon at least).

5:00 PM ON FRI DEC 7 2007
BY GINA TRAPANI
1,308 views, 1 comment

Latest by Autofac: Brilliant idea. I wish I had time to make my own sticky notes, or didn't constantly have the urge to stick them up on the wall when I do write them. more »

Food

Fifteen Foods that Burn More Calories than They Contain

We need to scarf down plenty of calories in a day, but if you've got a nasty snack habit that's tipping the scales to heavy, weblog Bootstrapper's list of 15 foods that burn more calories than they contain might be the perfect addition to your grocery list. Called negative calorie foods, the following 15 treats actual burn more calories in their digestion than they offer, so you can fulfill your snack craving without the guilt of a bag of potato chips. From apples to zucchini, these foods make the perfect snacks. Hit the jump for the full list. more »

4:00 PM ON FRI DEC 7 2007
BY ADAM PASH
23,805 views, 32 comments

Latest by ecartman: This is not true and yes I am diabetic. there are NO food that burn more calories than they contain. Cart more »

Video Demonstration

Fold a T-Shirt in Two Seconds (Redux)

Almost two years ago Adam posted a Japanese video that demonstrates how to fold a t-shirt in one quick motion, and today reader Sean writes in with the English version that's a lot easier to follow along. Hit the play button above to fast-track your laundry folding and impress your friends with a two second t-shirt fold. For more folding techniques, see how to fold a mattress cover or fitted sheet. Thanks, Sean!

3:00 PM ON FRI DEC 7 2007
BY GINA TRAPANI
6,001 views, 18 comments

Stuff we like

Car-Mount Your Gadgets with ProClip

Got (or soon to be getting) a gadget that needs mounting in your car? ProClip offers clips for nearly any portable device you can throw at it, then matches a vehicle mount to the make and model of your car. With the right device clip for your gadget and mount for your car, you can ensure that your gear is securely fastened and conveniently located so hopefully you're not fumbling to switch songs or answer a phone call while driving. Prices vary but they aren't exactly cheap, so if you've had luck with other, cheaper mounts, let's hear about them in the comments.

2:00 PM ON FRI DEC 7 2007
BY ADAM PASH
5,636 views, 21 comments

Latest by ecltech: For the folks saying this is high priced, yes it is compared to other solutions which you have to mount on your windshield or vent-mount. I've tried both and I have to say the Proclip system is much better. more »

Linux

Rip DVDs in Linux the (Semi-)Easy Way

With its hacker-friendly aesthetic and open source mentality, you'd think a Linux desktop would be the best place to assert your digital rights—you know, make backup copies of your DVDs, convert them for iPods, that kind of thing.

And you'd be half right. There are plenty of programs that let you take control of your video discs, but they're only useful if you can make it through a maze of configuration menus, command line options, choices about bit rates and codecs, and the occasional confusing message about a missing library.

I've tried out a good number of DVD ripping and conversion programs, and I've made peace with one method, and one program, that gets the job done more often than not. It's not exactly one-click, but once your system is set up, you can drop in DVDs and back them up or convert them with relative ease.

more »

12:00 PM ON FRI DEC 7 2007
BY KEVIN PURDY
18,028 views, 20 comments

Latest by Adam Chernow: @katemines: Notice nowhere was it ever mentioned that he was going to share the ripped files. All he is doing is showing us how to make a back-up of our DVDs, which last time I checked was still more »