Lifehacker

Restore Champagne Carbonation with a Raisin [Food]

Sun, 20 May 2012 16:00:00 PDT

Real Simple magazine's weblog recommends dropping a raisin into a bottle of champagne that's lost its effervescence and give it a couple of minutes before pouring. The last gasps of carbon dioxide left in the wine will stick to the raisin's ridged surface and release as bubbles. More »

Save Money By Switching Your Smartphone to a Prepaid Service Provider [Saving Money]

Sun, 20 May 2012 15:00:00 PDT

There have been shady ways in the past to unlock your iPhone or Android smartphone and use a SIM card from a prepaid service, but in the wake of AT&T's recent decision to unlock phones for customers who leave their service or travel overseas you can officially switch your phone to prepaid and potentially save a lot of money without being a technological genius or deal with shady services. More »

"Windows users, what are you using to rip DVDs?" [Ask The Commenters Roundup]

Sun, 20 May 2012 14:00:00 PDT

Share Your Internet Connection Using an Outdoor Wireless Access Point [Dark Side]

Sun, 20 May 2012 13:00:00 PDT

Have you ever shared your internet connection with another person? Many users are protesting arbitrary price hikes from ISPs by sharing Wi-Fi connections. Typically this only works well if you're within a few hundred feet, but outdoor wireless access points can extend this range up to 2,000ft if you don't have any trees blocking line-of-sight. More »

Create a Kitchen Cabinet-Door Measurement Center [Organization]

Sun, 20 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

Measuring cups and spoons are necessary if you follow recipes, yet they seem to disappear easily. Household weblog Infarrantly Creative found a great way to keep them on hand in your kitchen by using paint sticks and cup hooks to put together a storage system for your measuring cups and spoons. More »

Clean Your Glass Cooktop with Baking Soda [Kitchen Hacks]

Sun, 20 May 2012 11:00:00 PDT

If your glass cooktop or range needs a thorough cleaning but you don't have any specialized glass cleaners on hand you can use baking soda along with hot water and regular dish soap to get the cooktop clean. More »

Five Best Web Hosting Companies [Hive Five]

Sun, 20 May 2012 08:00:00 PDT

When you're ready to take your data into your own hands and run your own blog, own your own photos, and host your own apps, it's time to find a good web host that can put it all on the web for you, give you the tools, bandwidth, and storage you need, and support you when you need help. Thankfully, there are dozens of great companies looking for your business, and this week we're going to look at five of the best, based on your nominations. More »

DIY Maple-Flavored Pancake Syrup [Breakfast]

Sun, 20 May 2012 07:00:00 PDT

Did you know that you can make your own version of popular maple-flavored syrups such as Aunt Jemimas, Mrs. Butterworths, etc using nothing more than white sugar, brown sugar, water, and a little Mapeleine (maple flavor extract). Sure, nothing beats real Maple syrup but if you can't get the good stuff you can make your own syrup for around fifty cents per bottle. More »

Make Mini Dutch Baby Pancakes in a Muffin Tin [Breakfast]

Sat, 19 May 2012 16:00:00 PDT

Dutch Baby pancakes, also known as German pancakes, are pancakes made with flour, butter, and milk that are prepared in a special pan and flipped out when ready forming a ridge that can be filled with cream cheese, fruit jams, or other fillings. If you like this style of breakfast you can easily replicate a smaller version at home by using a muffin tin. More »

Pour Vinegar Down Your Drain Every Three Months to Keep Clogs Away [Video]

Sat, 19 May 2012 15:00:00 PDT

Harsh chemical drain unclogging solutions can actually be abrasive enough to make your pipes leak after the clog is dissolved. Instead considering pouring a half bottle of white vinegar down your drain every three months to keep clogs from forming. More »

Use the Jelly Pocket Method for a Better Drip-Free PB&J [Food Hacks]

Sat, 19 May 2012 14:00:00 PDT

I grew up making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (PB&Js) using the simplest method possible. Spread peanut butter on one slice of bread, spread the jelly on the other side, and combine. The problem with that is the jelly can make the bread soggy and can leak out after you take a bite. Reddit user ChickenMcFail uses a trick I call the "Jelly Pocket Method". More »

DIY UberFridge Controls Homebrewing Temperatures [Video]

Sat, 19 May 2012 13:00:00 PDT

If you love to homebrew but live in an area where summer temperatures get too hot for proper fermentation you can resolve yourself to wait to brew or you can build a badass Arduino Nano-controlled UberFridge which will maintain temperatures set to a tenth of a degree and can be monitored or controlled using a custom webapp. If you have a spare working fridge the build will cost around $100 in parts. More »

Repurpose a Towel Rod Into a Cleaning Spray Holder [Repurpose]

Sat, 19 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

When you need to seriously clean your bathroom take the towels out and assemble an arsenal of spray cleaners and wipes and go to town. To keep these supplies close at hand you may want to consider adding a towel rod to your laundry room to ensure your cleanings supplies are always ready to go. More »

DIY Reusable Dryer Sheets [DIY]

Sat, 19 May 2012 11:00:00 PDT

To save money or avoid a trip to the store you can make your own reusable dryer sheets by dipping white wash cloths or rags into a little liquid fabric softener until they're completely saturated and allow them to dry completely—you'll be able to use each rag around a dozen times until you need to repeat the process. More »

Top 10 Pervasive Tech Myths That Are Only Wasting Your Time [Lifehacker Top 10]

Sat, 19 May 2012 08:00:00 PDT

Ever been told that you should fully discharge your battery to prolong its life? Or that jailbreaking your phone is illegal? Or that you should wait for the newest Intel processor because it's going to be "so much faster"? These are tech myths we hear all the time, and likely spread to our friends—but most are just a waste of your time (and in some cases, they can actually harm your gadgets). Here are some of the worst offenders. More »

Build a Self-Resetting Mouse Trap [DIY]

Sat, 19 May 2012 07:00:00 PDT

We've covered many mouse traps over the years, but they all need to be reset once you've caught a mouse. This means if you have lots of furry intruders you'll need to have several traps or just build this version using a 5-gallon bucket, an aluminum beverage can, a small piece of wood, and a wooden dowel. More »

Learn the Built-in Superpowers of Your Brain and Body This Weekend [Weekendhacker]

Fri, 18 May 2012 17:00:00 PDT

The human body and its brain are pretty incredible. They're also fragile and dumb. Realizing this can make your life miserable, or you can look at it as an opportunity and take control. This weekend, learn a few built-in superpowers you may not have known you had. All they take is a little practice. More »

Remains of the Day: Verizon Will Grandfather Unlimited Data, Won't Subsidize Your Phone [For What It's Worth]

Fri, 18 May 2012 16:00:00 PDT

Verizon relents a little on unlimited data, Congress considers fighting for some "hearts and minds" at home, and Mac folks can relax about lost hotkeys. More »

Use a Banana Peel to Relieve Itching from Poison Ivy, Mosquito Bites, and More [Clever Uses]

Fri, 18 May 2012 15:30:00 PDT

As we inch closer to summer, you're more likely to run into poison ivy, bug bites, and the other itchy ailments that come with being outside. Redditor xume points out that banana peels are a great homemade remedy for itchy skin. More »

AniExplorer Adds Customizable Animations to Windows Explorer [Video]

Fri, 18 May 2012 15:00:00 PDT

Windows: AniExplorer enables hidden animations in the Windows Explorer interface, letting you customize your file manager and give it a little pizazz. More »

Daily App Deals: Get Hurricane for iOS for $2.99 in Today's App Deals [App Deals]

Fri, 18 May 2012 14:30:00 PDT

The Daily App Deals post is a round-up of the best app discounts of the day, as well as some notable mentions for ones that are on sale. More »

Your Optimism Bias: One of the Best and Worst Tricks Your Brain Plays on You [Video]

Fri, 18 May 2012 14:00:00 PDT

By nature, we're optimistic. We think we're better than most people at virtually everything we do. We believe we'll beat the odds of getting cancer even when we smoke a pack of cigarettes a week. This is the result of our optimism bias, and it both helps us succeed and make some of the dumbest decisions of our lives. Here's how it works, and how you can make it work for you. More »

This Week's Most Popular Posts: May 12-18 [Highlights]

Fri, 18 May 2012 13:00:00 PDT

This week we squeezed our workout routine into 20 minutes, ordered tailor-made clothing on the cheap, cured our router's constant need for a reset, and more. Here's a look back.

Bandits Are Tough Rubber Bands with Hooks that Secure and Hang Just About Anything [Stuff We Like]

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:30:00 PDT

Bandits are very simple to understand: they're a rubber band with a hook. This may not seem extremely compelling at first glance, but there's actually a lot you can do with them. They can be used to hang a water bottle on your bike, your sunglasses from your car's rearview mirror, tools on a ladder when you need to set them somewhere, and virtually anything you can think of. More »

Facebook Adds a Shortcut to Ignore Spammy Apps, Unfollow Long Comment Threads [Facebook]

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

Getting new Facebook notifications is always fun, but that red number gets a lot more annoying when your notifications are just filled with apps you don't want and comment threads you no longer care about. Today, Facebook added new controls to the notification dropdown so you can unsubscribe from certain threads and apps right away. More »

How to Stop Birds from Flying into Your Windows [Crowdhacker]

Fri, 18 May 2012 11:30:00 PDT

Ever found a beautiful bird dead outside your home? Chances are it smashed into your window and never recovered. For every dead bird you find, just imagine how many were snatched up by a cat or pulled into the brush by some other critter. Worldwide, window collisions kill close to a billion(!) birds every year. With spring migration currently underway in the northern hemisphere, now is as good as ever to make your home bird safe. The DIY experts at Stack Exchange tell you how. More »

Think You Might Get Laid Off? Know What You Can Negotiate in Your Severance Deal [Jobs]

Fri, 18 May 2012 11:00:00 PDT

Many more people than ever before are getting the pink slip, thanks to massive layoffs happening everywhere. If there's a chance you could be the next layoff, find out what you can get from your company before you're rushed out the door. More »

The Best Programming Text Editor for Linux [Linux App Directory]

Fri, 18 May 2012 10:30:00 PDT

Linux users have more text editors, IDEs, and command-line tools than a programmer can shake a stick at. If you're looking for a good programming text editor, we recommend Kate. It's super easy to get started with, but is quite powerful and has lots of great plugins to beef it up. More »

I'm New to Jailbreaking; Can You Help Me Wrap My Head Around Cydia? [Ask Lifehacker]

Fri, 18 May 2012 10:00:00 PDT

I recently jailbroke my iPhone and now that it's done I'm very overwhelmed by Cydia. I've downloaded a couple apps, but I don't understand most of what I'm looking at. The descriptions and explanation in Cydia don't help much, so I'm wondering: can you help me wrap my head all this stuff? More »

Color-Code Cords and Prevent Them from Getting Unplugged with Pencil Grippers [Clever Uses]

Fri, 18 May 2012 09:30:00 PDT

Here's an easy fix for those gadget cords and plug-in tips that never seem to stay connected: Slide the plugs through a cheap pencil gripper for a tighter connection. You can also use these pencil grippers to color-code other cords around the house. More »

Use Bing's Beautiful Backgrounds as Your Rotating Google Wallpaper [Google]

Fri, 18 May 2012 09:00:00 PDT

Chrome: Prefer Google's search but wish you had Bing's beautiful daily images? With the "Bing wallpaper for Google homepage" Chrome extension, you can set Bing's wallpaper to automatically load on your Google homepage. The extension offers different themes and loading settings. More »

Celebrate the Mass Commodification of Your Friendships in This Week's Open Thread [Open Thread]

Fri, 18 May 2012 08:30:00 PDT

Long week? Take a quick breather in this week's open thread. More »

Five Handy Things You Can Do with Google's New Knowledge Graph Search [Google Search]

Fri, 18 May 2012 08:00:00 PDT

Earlier this week, Google introduced Knowledge Graph, the company's new search technology that understands "things not strings" and adds rich and relevant details about your query in the sidebar of your search results. Here are five great things you can now do with a quick Google search. More »

Modify any iPhone Headset Remote to Work With Android Devices [Video]

Fri, 18 May 2012 07:30:00 PDT

Everyone loves the iPhone's headset with volume and music controls on the inline remote, but if you have an Android phone, you can actually get iPhone-designed buds working with your device. All it takes is a little DIY magic. More »

Make Your Own Wardrobe-Style Boxes for Quickly Packing Clothes [Moving]

Fri, 18 May 2012 06:30:00 PDT

Whether you're getting ready for a big move or your just stuffing away your season clothes, packing up clothes is never a fun process. To make the process a little smoother, Reddit user LutzExpertTera simply throws the clothes on a makeshift hanger attached to a box. More »

Properly Freeze Your Vegetables for Cheap Year-Round Treats [Food]

Fri, 18 May 2012 06:00:00 PDT

Vegetables are usually incredibly cheap come spring and summer, but chances are you can't eat an entire haul of cheap tomatoes before they go bad. Cooking blog The Kitchn has put together a simple, five-step guide to freezing those vegetables correctly so they stay tasty and last a full year. More »

The Best and Worst Airlines for Redeeming Rewards Miles [Travel]

Fri, 18 May 2012 05:30:00 PDT

Signing up for airline rewards miles is easy and free, and it's easy to pile them up if you do any traveling. The trouble starts when you need to redeem those miles for tickets, or discounts. Some airlines are better than others, and the worst ones force you to jump through hoops or change your travel date to get your money's worth, and the folks at Ideaworks looked into which airlines were the most receptive to rewards redemptions. More »

Twitter Is Tracking You On The Web; Here's What You Can Do To Stop It [Privacy]

Fri, 18 May 2012 05:00:00 PDT

While most of us were hurrying to turn off Twitter's new email digests, the company announced they would begin suggesting new people and brands to follow based on your Twitter activity. The trouble is, by "activity," they mean your friends, followers, and even where you go on the web once you leave Twitter. More »