Lifehacker

"Can anyone recommend a good Android app that can analyze how much power my apps are using?" [Ask The Commenters Roundup]

Sun, 27 May 2012 14:00:00 PDT

Can anyone recommend a good Android app that can analyze how much battery my running apps/processes are consuming?
Are there any benefits to having a Linux distro on a PPC Mac?
How do you break out of a funk?
I want a portable Wi-Fi router for only short distances, small enough to carry around, and cheap. Any suggestions?
Is it possible to have a single folder sync to Dropbox AND Google Drive at the same time?
Is there a way in AutoHotkey to create a script that would search a document for all instances of words in all-caps and make them bold?
Can anyone recommend a good 4G Android phone with a slide-out keyboard that I can pop a card SIM into?
Can someone point me to a good n00b friendly guide on how to dual boot Windows 7 with OS X that I could follow?
How do I deal with a noisy neighbor who likes to watch videos loudly at 3am?
Does anyone know of a way I can get Google Hangouts to call out to more than one number in the same hangout?

DIY Hidden Storage Cooler Sneaks Booze Into Your Event [Dark Side]

David Galloway — Sun, 27 May 2012 13:00:00 PDT

You enjoy going to outdoor concerts, sporting events, and other festivals but the no outside alcohol policy mixed with $8 drinks quickly dries up your enthusiasm. If you don't feel like following the rules you can always build a hidden compartment into a cooler and sneak your booze into the event. More »

Replace Your Cabinet Kickplate with Tiny Drawers to Increase Storage Space [Weekend Projects]

David Galloway — Sun, 27 May 2012 11:00:00 PDT

Live in an extremely small house/apartment and looking for any way to increase your storage space? Tiny house dweller Tammy Strobel developed several innovative "hidden in plain sight" storage areas for her 128 square-foot home including small drawers under her kitchen cabinets where most people normally just install a kickplate. More »

Five Best Tablet Drawing Apps [Video]

Alan Henry — Sun, 27 May 2012 08:00:00 PDT

If you have a tablet and want to express your creativity, there are plenty of great apps you can use to pass the time doodling or to create beautiful digital art. If you have a stylus, they're even easier to use, but most of them only require a steady finger and a good imagination to make something beautiful. This week we're going to look at five of the best tablet drawing apps, based on your nominations. More »

Use a Bundt Pan as a Vertical Roaster [Kitchen Hacks]

David Galloway — Sun, 27 May 2012 07:00:00 PDT

If you need to roast a turkey, chicken, or other meat and don't happen to have a roasting pan on hand Real Simple magazine's weblog shares that you can get the same roasting effect from a bundt cake pan. The cone in the center of the pan will keep the meat from touching the base and provide the same cooking effect. More »

This Week's Top Downloads [Download Roundup]

Sat, 26 May 2012 17:00:00 PDT

Hipster Habit App Is a Pocketable, Printable Mini-Book Designed to Help You Create or Remove Habits in 30 Days

Create a Bicycling Jacket with Turn Signals [Video]

David Galloway — Sat, 26 May 2012 16:00:00 PDT

If you like to ride your bike at night you know that visibility to motorists is extremely important. For around $50 of materials and a little electronics experience you can add turn signal LEDs to any jacket or sweatshirt. More »

Keep Celery Fresh by Wrapping in Aluminum Foil [Food Hacks]

David Galloway — Sat, 26 May 2012 15:00:00 PDT

It's tempting to buy the big bag of celery at Costco but you'll seldom use it all by the time it starts to fade. If you wrap the celery in a plastic bag and then wrap that bag in aluminum foil you can get a much longer refrigerated shelf life. More »

Use Baby Powder as Dry Shampoo [Grooming]

David Galloway — Sat, 26 May 2012 14:00:00 PDT

Dry Shampoo is great if you have oily hair and you'll be out late or won't have access to a shower. Commercial dry shampoos work great but most of them are just talc or baby powder combined with a fragrance—you can use regular or unscented baby powder for the same effect. More »

Assemble an Affordable Standing Desk from Ikea Parts [Ikea Hacks]

David Galloway — Sat, 26 May 2012 13:00:00 PDT

Standing desks have become enormously popular in the past few years as using them relieves back pain and results in a less sedentary workday. Nice commercial standing desks can be expensive, but when we want to put something together that looks nice and performs well at a budget we need look no further than to our friends at Ikea Hackers. More »

Make Easy Photo Transfers Onto Wood [Photography]

David Galloway — Sat, 26 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

Whether you're getting an early jump on holiday gifts or just want to have an Instagram-like hard copy of your favorite photos, wood transfers are a great way to to turn a photo into a keepsake. We've found a method where all you need in addition to the wood and laser printed photo are two art-store chemicals, brushes, scissors, and towels. More »

Embrace Your Inner Nagging Voices to Get Things Done [Mind Hacks]

David Galloway — Sat, 26 May 2012 11:00:00 PDT

You know those little voices that tell you you need to mow the lawn, finish your blog post, take out the trash and other things you need to do? They're normally thought of as a nuisance but financial weblog Mr. Money Mustache argues they can be a helpful tool to achieve our goals. More »

Top 10 Ways to Beat the Heat [Video]

Adam Dachis — Sat, 26 May 2012 08:00:00 PDT

The heat is back. Summer is coming. The sun is out to get you—but don't lose hope. Here are our top 10 ways to beat the heat. More »

One-Step Frozen Yogurt Pops [Food Hacks]

David Galloway — Sat, 26 May 2012 07:00:00 PDT

If you're like me you want your treats to be economical, easy to make, and somewhat healthy. A great way to hit all three of those targets is to buy a multipack of yogurt and push a popsicle stick through the foil lid. Freeze for a few hours and you'll have a dead simple treat. More »

Do Some Serious Relaxing This Weekend [Weekendhacker]

Whitson Gordon — Fri, 25 May 2012 13:00:00 PDT

You've had a long week at work and three full days to relax your stress away. Here are some ways to get the most out of your relaxation this weekend. More »

Remains of the Day: LimeWire's $72 Trillion "Fine" [For What It's Worth]

Dusty Wright — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 PDT

The RIAA states to the court that LimeWire should pay them more money than exists in the world, Live Traffic and Geocording is brought to Bing courtesy of Nokia, and Groupon is trying to make its mark in the payment service market. More »

This Week's Most Popular Posts: May 19-25 [Highlights]

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:30:00 PDT

This week we busted the tech myths we most commonly see people waste their time on, helped remedy the silly things you may be unknowingly doing on Facebook, took a look at your rights as an amateur photographer, and more. Here's a look back.

Become the Memorial Day Grill Master [Grilling]

Kevin Purdy — Fri, 25 May 2012 11:00:00 PDT

Memorial Day marks the start of the serious grilling season, and there's no better weekend to try your hand at outdoor cooking, or bolster your established grill-master game. Luckily, honing your outdoor culinary skills is a lot more simple than it seems, given the right tools, a little preparation, and a few tips on technique. Here's a look at some pointers on getting the right gear, turning out great meals, and even preparing for uncooperative weather. More »

The Always Up-to-Date Guide to Jailbreaking Your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad [iOS 5.1.1] [Video]

Adam Dachis — Fri, 25 May 2012 10:30:00 PDT

Jailbreaking is a process that changes little by little with each iOS upgrade. Rather than always publishing new guides, we're simply going to keep this one up to date. If you want to jailbreak your iOS device, you've come to the right page. More »

How Can I Turn Small Talk Into a Conversation? [Ask Lifehacker]

Thorin Klosowski — Fri, 25 May 2012 10:00:00 PDT

Dear Lifehacker, More »

Be More Productive with Your Side Projects by Saving Your Work in a State of Suspended Animation [Productivity]

Adam Dachis — Fri, 25 May 2012 09:30:00 PDT

There's the job you go to during the day and the projects you come home to when you're finished. If you've got more your want to accomplish after a long day of work but are finding yourself lacking the productivity to get going on a regular basis, it can help to spend your work in the middle and pick it up right where you left off the next day. Kay Keng Tay, an engineer over at Quora, uses this technique to easily pick up his side projects: More »

Phantom Cellphone Vibration Is a Sign You Need a Tech Break [Technology]

Melanie Pinola — Fri, 25 May 2012 09:00:00 PDT

Your cellphone is vibrating in your pocket—but when you check, it really isn't. The good news is you're not going crazy. This phenomenon, called phantom cellphone vibration syndrome, is increasingly common. The bad news is you might have a tech addiction. More »

Prep for Your Long Weekend in This Week's Open Thread [Video]

Adam Pash — Fri, 25 May 2012 08:30:00 PDT

Who's got a long weekend ahead? You do! Get your prep on in this week's open thread. More »

There's No Speed Limit (The Lessons That Changed My Life) [Mind Hacks]

Derek Sivers — Fri, 25 May 2012 08:00:00 PDT

Most of us learn and make things at a prescribed pace. We learn a language one semester at a time, finish college in four years, follow set project milestones, and so on. But learning isn't necessarily a one-size-fits-all affair. Entrepreneur and programmer Derek Siver explains the impact of realizing that there's no set speed limit to learning. Here's his example of the life-changing power of a great teacher and raised expectations. More »

Reduce the Caffeine in Coffee by Changing How You Brew It [Coffee]

Melanie Pinola — Fri, 25 May 2012 07:30:00 PDT

Not ready to resort to decaf but still want to enjoy less-caffeinated cups of coffee? A simple change in brewing method—the temperature and brewing time—can lower the amount of caffeine in your cuppa. More »

Charge Your Phone with a DIY Candle-Powered Charger [Video]

Whitson Gordon — Fri, 25 May 2012 07:00:00 PDT

So the power's out, and you've broken out the candles to keep things well-lit—but your phone's about to die too, with no working wall outlet in sight! DIY weblog Tinkernut shows us how to power your phone with the heat of one of those candles. More »

Grateful160 Keeps Your Self Esteem High by Building a Daily Journal of Happiness [Happiness]

Whitson Gordon — Fri, 25 May 2012 06:30:00 PDT

We've all had bad days, bad weeks, or bad months where it just seems like you're in a moody rut you can't escape. Grateful160 is a simple service that sends you an SMS message every day asking you what you're grateful for—and builds a journal of your responses to keep you upbeat. More »

ProxMate Unblocks Region Specific YouTube, Grooveshark, and Hulu Content [Downloads]

Thorin Klosowski — Fri, 25 May 2012 06:00:00 PDT

Chrome/Firefox: Ever run into a video that's blocked because you aren't in a supported region? It's annoying, but ProxMate is a simple extension for Chrome and Firefox that unblocks region-specific content from YouTube, Hulu, and Grooveshark. More »

iOS 5.1.1 Untethered Jailbreak Now Available [Jailbreak]

Thorin Klosowski — Fri, 25 May 2012 05:43:20 PDT

iOS: The Chronic Dev Team has just released its new jailbreak too, Absinthe 2.0. The jailbreak works with the new iPad, iPhone 4S, and all previous models running iOS 5.1.1. More »

DIY Sonic Distance Sensors to Improve Your Parallel Parking [DIY]

Thorin Klosowski — Fri, 25 May 2012 05:30:00 PDT

A lot of new cars have fancy cameras on the rear bumper to help you parallel park. If your car doesn't have that feature, DIY blog Mad Science has put together a tutorial to roll your own sensor system with an Arduino. More »

Vlingo Labs Brings Voice-Activated SMS, Dialing, and More Siri-Like Features to Ice Cream Sandwich Phones [Android Downloads]

Alan Henry — Fri, 25 May 2012 05:00:00 PDT

Android: Vlingo is still our favorite virtual assistant for Android, but even it doesn't offer all of the features and tight integration that Apple's Siri does in iOS. Well, with Vlingo Labs, the service's new beta app where they test new features, you can get some of that integration, like the ability to speak to wake up Vlingo at any time and the ability to dictate SMS messages, web searches, and voice dialing, all without ever touching your phone. More »

Make Your Own Magic Shell Ice Cream Topping At Home and Dress Up Your Desserts [Food]

Alan Henry — Fri, 25 May 2012 04:00:00 PDT

Magic Shell ice cream topping, or that chocolate syrup that hardens as soon as it comes in contact with the cold ice cream in a bowl, is tasty, but it's made with a world of stabilizers and other chemicals with long names. Plus, it can get pricey for the amount you get. Surprisingly, it's super easy to make at home, with ingredients that you may already have in your pantry. All you need is chocolate and coconut oil. More »

Best Tablet Drawing App? [Hive Five Call For Contenders]

Alan Henry — Thu, 24 May 2012 17:00:00 PDT

Whether you have an iPad or an Android tablet, you've probably been tempted to doodle a bit on it, or open up an app to make sketches or take down a few freehand notes with your finger or a stylus. Maybe you just love to draw, and you found the perfect drawing app to express your creativity. This week we want to know which app you turn to when you want to do a little drawing on your tablet screen. More »

What to Do When "Doing What You Love" Isn't an Option [Careers]

Whitson Gordon — Thu, 24 May 2012 16:30:00 PDT

We've always said that you should do what you love—so much that if you wouldn't do your job for free, you should quit. When that isn't an option, though, writer Patty Azzarello recommends a slight change in philosophy. More »

Remains of the Day: Android Developers Can Now Offer In-App Subscriptions [For What It's Worth]

Dusty Wright — Thu, 24 May 2012 16:00:00 PDT

Android developers are now able to offer in-app subscriptions inside their apps, under the hood of Dell's Windows 8 tablet, and SayHi Translate hits 10-million translations. More »

Meta Widget Turns Nearly Any Web Page Into a Widget on Android [Video]

Whitson Gordon — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:30:00 PDT

Android: Widgets are awesome, but if you're keeping your eye on a service or web site that doesn't have a widget in the Play Store, you can make your own with Meta Widget. More »

Put Your Pants On Without Your Underwear Bunching Up [Clothing]

Whitson Gordon — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:00:00 PDT

It's a silly problem to lament, but it's very real: that moment when you pull up your pants, only to have your underwear bunch up around your waist. Redditor 04andrew22 shares his brilliant solution. More »

Daily App Deals: Get AppZilla 2 for iOS for Free in Today’s App Deals [App Deals]

Jeremy Hoag — Thu, 24 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 »

Hipster Habit App Is a Pocketable, Printable Mini-Book Designed to Help You Create or Remove Habits in 30 Days [Printables]

Adam Dachis — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:00:00 PDT

Killing a bad habit is easier said than done, but the Hipster Habit App—which is less of an app and more of a miniature printable book for your wallet—can help you through the process. All you need to do is make a few choices, stick with the plan, and you'll have a well-formed habit in 30 days. More »

Be Lifehacker’s New Intern [Announcements]

Whitson Gordon — Thu, 24 May 2012 13:15:00 PDT

We're on the hunt for a new Lifehacker intern based in the US. Interested? Here's what you need to know. More »