Lifehacker Australia

Overworked? Here’s How To Fight Back

Adam Dachis — Thu, 17 May 2012 10:00:00 +1000

Feeling overworked is a really common problem. You can’t always change your work environment, but there are steps you can take to deal with many of the issues associated with an overloaded work life. Photos by Leremy (Shutterstock), Wes Peck, Alyssa L. Miller, bottled_void. . Whatever happened to the 40-hour week?For many of us, the notion of fixed working hours and time to ourselves seems ...

No Australian Plans Yet For Google’s Knowledge Graph

Angus Kidman — Thu, 17 May 2012 09:00:30 +1000

Google is making a big splash in the news today with its new Knowledge Graph search technology, which claims to catalogue more than 500 million objects in the world and 3.5 billion facts about them to make search results more useful. It sounds impressive, but there’s no word yet on when Australian Google users will get access to it. Google says that its Knowledge Graph collation of informati ...

Gmail Adds Contacts To Its Search Bar

Whitson Gordon — Thu, 17 May 2012 08:30:00 +1000

Gmail added a useful little feature to its search feature today, adding details for all your contacts to your search results for quick access. Now, when you search someone’s email address, the results will not only show messages from them but some extra info about that contact. You’ll see their contact photo, as well as links to email them, IM them, call them using Gmail calling and v ...

Boost Your Creativity By Improving Your Working Memory

Adam Dachis — Thu, 17 May 2012 06:00:00 +1000

Your working memory capacity, or the amount of information you’re able to actively hold in your mind at once, isn’t just easy-access storage in your brain. According to Art Markman (PhD), writing for Psychology Today, a better working memory increases your capacity to generate creative idea. Markman explains:In one study, the researchers actually explored the creativity of ...

What Employers Look For In Entry-Level Job Candidates

Melanie Pinola — Thu, 17 May 2012 05:30:00 +1000

Millennial Branding and Experience surveyed 225 employers to find out what’s most important to them when they hire students or others for entry-level jobs. “Soft skills” like communication and teamwork were ranked even higher than education, and almost all employers said students should have at least one internship before they graduate. An internship can be a great way to get a ...

Weekly Wallpaper: Grant Your Desktop Superpowers

Adam Dachis and Brett Yoncak — Thu, 17 May 2012 04:00:00 +1000

It’s that time of the year again — superheroes are hitting the big screen to defend the world from evil. Show your support for the Avengers, Batman and more with these wallpapers. For more superhero wallpapers, check out our original pack. Silver SurferDownload this wallpaper [Wallchan 4089x2726] Captain AmericaDownload this wallpaper [The Paper Wall 2560x1600] Hulk SmashDownloa ...

TaskBadges Adds The Number Of Uncompleted Tasks To Icons

Adam Dachis — Thu, 17 May 2012 03:30:00 +1000

Mac: TaskBadges is a simple app that monitors any text-based to-do lists you choose and figures out how many uncompleted tasks you have left. It then puts a badge on the text file so you can always see how many things you have left to finish. Additionally, all your monitored text files are available in the menubar so you can quickly open them or just see what you’ve got left to finish. If y ...

Ask LH: Why Do I Have To Keep Resetting My Router, And How Can I Fix It?

Whitson Gordon — Thu, 17 May 2012 03:00:00 +1000

Dear Lifehacker, My router sucks. My connection goes wonky once every few days, and I have to unplug the router and reboot it (I believe this is called a hard reset) to fix the problem. Obviously, this is incredibly annoying. What can I do to just make the darn thing work properly? Sincerely, Infernal Internet Dear Infernal, This is a very common ailment, but there’s no one universal cause ( ...

The Custom-Built Workspace For Two

Melanie Pinola — Thu, 17 May 2012 02:30:00 +1000

Today’s featured workspace features a long multi-level desk put together by IT professional Chad Cram. With lots of storage and desk surface space, it’s a very functional workspace for two. This picture shows the workspace before it was fully furnished and set up, but you can still find some interesting details about the impressive desk. Chad used IKEA Capita kitchen legs to raise the ...

Group Videos In iTunes By Saving Them As TV Shows

Melanie Pinola — Thu, 17 May 2012 02:00:00 +1000

Want to add more organisation to your collection of videos in iTunes? Categorise the videos as TV Shows instead of Movies and then you can group them as you wish. Mac OS X Hints describes the easy steps for organising your video library. When you import a new movie into iTunes, it will usually be categorised as a movie. Select all the videos you want to set as a TV show and go to the Info setting ...

Evernote For Android Gets New Features

Melanie Pinola — Thu, 17 May 2012 01:30:00 +1000

Android: Evernote has given its Android app a complete makeover. The updates are not only visually appealing, they also make using the note-taking app on tiny devices much easier.The new home screen features large buttons for creating different types of notes, easy access to your account (via the username at the top), and options to take you directly to all of your notes, notebooks and notes by ...

Build Your Own Electromagnetic Interface Detector To Root Out Standby Power Waste

Thorin Klosowski — Thu, 17 May 2012 00:30:00 +1000

A lot of electronics use up power even when they’re turned off. The easy fix for this is to simply turn off your power board, but if you want to root out and identify the source, Popular Mechanics shows you how to build your own Electromagnetic Interface (EMI) detector. According to Popular Mechanics, standby power adds as much as 10 per cent to your electric bill. Their DIY build s ...

Use A Rolling To-Do List To Stay Flexible

Thorin Klosowski — Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 +1000

Regardless of your productivity method, managing and checking off items on a to-do list is always difficult. If you dislike the strictness of a traditional to-do list, Stepcase Lifehack recommends trying out a rolling list to keep things flexible. The rolling to-do list is all about flexibility and therefore doesn’t work so well on paper. You need a digital document so you can easily cut and ...

Flipboard Updates With New Features

Thorin Klosowski — Wed, 16 May 2012 23:30:00 +1000

iOS: The personalised social magazine Flipboard has been updated with new audio features. Instead of primarily dealing out news in text based on your social networks, the new version also connects to a number of radio stations, podcasts and SoundCloud. You can access the new audio category by tapping the red ribbon and selecting the audio category. Here you’ll find picks from Flipboard as we ...

The Best Ways To De-Stink Your Stuff

Thorin Klosowski — Wed, 16 May 2012 23:00:00 +1000

It doesn’t matter how clean you think you are, your stuff is bound to get a little stinky once in a while. That means your clothes, shoes, carpets, couches, and who knows what else. So what’s the best way to handle the stench? Let’s take a look. Different deodorisers work better for different situations, but a few catch-all odour-destroyers work better than others. Let’s br ...

Cosmos Is An All-In-One Optimisation Tool For Your Android Phone

Alan Henry — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:30:00 +1000

We’ve discussed how to speed up and refresh your Android phone before, but at the end of the day there’s only so much you can do at one time to give your device a boost. Cosmos, a new app from the team at Support.com, aims to change that. Cosmos rolls privacy protection, battery management and junk file removal all into one easy-to-use tool that promises to keep your phone safe, snappy ...

Hack A Carabiner With Heat Shrink Tubing To Build The Ultimate Keychain

Alan Henry — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:00:00 +1000

A good carabiner or s-biner makes a great keychain — it can clip to your belt or your bag so you never lose it, and you can keep more than one ring of keys on it. Plus, it hangs up nicely on hooks or magnetic holders with no fuss. Even so, Instructables user elplatt lost a keyfob from one because the carabiner latch came open one day. Committed to never let that happen again, he grabbed some ...

Make Your Own Pancake Syrup

Alan Henry — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:00:00 +1000

Syrup for pancakes and waffles at the supermarket can get pretty expensive for something that’s caramel-coloured and made from iffy ingredients. There’s no reason to buy it, even if you like the flavour — making your own at home is easy, gets you more syrup for the money, and with this recipe, you can even doctor it up a bit to make a delicious breakfast treat. Photo by aaron vaz ...

Dealhacker: 3-For-2 Blu-ray/DVD At Big W

Angus Kidman — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:30:01 +1000

From tomorrow for a week, Big W has 3-for-2 deals on all its Blu-ray and DVD titles (which in effect means you get the cheapest one in a bundle for free). Big W rarely has the range of rivals such as JB Hi-Fi, but this could still be a cheap way to enhance your collection or stash some presents. [Big W via OzBargain] ...

In Memoriam: Our Favourite Apps And Services That Have Gone Belly Up

Whitson Gordon — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:30:00 +1000

If the life of a power user teaches you anything, it’s that some of the best apps and tools don’t always stand the test of time. Let’s pour one out for some of those dearly departed, and look at what you can use instead. Title image remixed from Igor Kovalchuk . In honour of QuickTime plugin Perian’s announcement that it is halting development (Perian let you play unsuppor ...