Lifehacker Australia

Practice Multiple Skills Instead Of Focusing On One

Adam Pash — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +1100

Wired’s Garth Sundem sat down with the Robert Bjork, director of UCLA’s Learning and Forgetting Lab, to discuss how you can best “[pack] things in your brain in a way that keeps them from leaking out”. What he learned? A lot of our basic assumptions are wrong. For example, rather than blocking out chunks of time to focus on improving one skill or subject, Bjork says you ...

The iPad’s Split Keyboard Has A Few Hidden Buttons That Make Typing Easier

Whitson Gordon — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:30:00 +1100

You’ve no doubt seen the split keyboard that iOS 5 brought to the iPad, but it turns out it has a few hidden buttons on the edges. Here’s how they work. My biggest gripe with the split keyboard was that it forced me to type certain letters — like T or Y — with certain hands. Depending on what I’m typing, sometimes I prefer reaching to T with my left hand, or Y with m ...

Skype Can Now Video Chat With Facebook

Whitson Gordon — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:00:00 +1100

The newest version of Skype for Windows lets you initiate IMs and video chat sessions with Facebook users, even if they aren’t running Skype. It also includes group screen sharing, a push to talk feature and HD video for certain webcams. We mentioned some of these features when they came out in beta, but they’ve now made it to the stable version of Skype, so everyone can get in on the ...

The One Bag That Transforms Into What You Need

Adam Dachis — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:30:00 +1100

The UNDFND One Bag looks like a designer messenger bag, but is far more dynamic and modular than you’d expect. The majority of the bag is modifiable, allowing you to transform it into the bag you need right now, rather than switching your gear in and out of a variety of different containers. The One Bag is made of water-resistant neoprene and features several modifiable parts. Most ...

Google Cloud Print: Here’s How To Set It Up

Adam Dachis — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:00:00 +1100

Google Cloud Print is an under-appreciated service that can send print jobs from virtually anywhere to a connected printer in any other location. Normally that involves tedious configuration on your network, but Cloud Print can do it in just a few minutes. It’s really easy to set up, and there are a few things you can do to extend its support beyond the browser to make all your printing task ...

Monitor And Diagnose Browser Issues With Fiddler

Logan Booker — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 12:30:14 +1100

Sometimes it’s nice to know what you’re browser is up to when it requests a page. If a site is taking a long time to load, there’s not much you can do about it except repeatedly hit the refresh button. If, however, you want to delve deeper, a handy Windows program called Fiddler can help you find out exactly what’s happening with your HTTP traffic. Global statistics on acce ...

Build A Mail Rack Or Charging Station From IKEA Magazine Holders

Alan Henry — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 06:00:00 +1100

If you’re the type who prefer to open mail as soon as you get in the house — hopefully over a recycling bin so the junk mail goes right inside, this DIY mail shelf can give you a space in your foyer or entryway to stash the important stuff while reading, or leave your gadgets to charge before you leave the house. All you’ll need is a small piece of wood and some magazine holders, ...

The Best Calendar App For Linux

Whitson Gordon — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:30:00 +1100

Linux users have a few calendar programs to choose from, but none of them are particularly spectacular — in fact, most of them aren’t very good at all. As such, we’re bending the rules of the App Directory and recommending that you use the awesome Google Calendar webapp for all your scheduling needs. We understand that some of you might be upset that our pick isn’t a ̶ ...

Ask LH: What Are Some Tasty, Healthy Alternatives To Soft Drink?

Thorin Klosowski — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +1100

I’ve decided it’s finally time to get rid of my twice-a-day soft drink habit, but the problem is, I really like soft drink. What are the healthy alternatives that can still match my cravings? Sincerely, Mr Pibb Photo remixed with Vitaly Korovin/Shutterstock. Dear Mr Pibb, Cutting soft drink out of your daily diet is a great idea, but finding a great replacement makes dropping ...

5 Home Maintenance Tasks You Probably Forget

Thorin Klosowski — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 04:30:00 +1100

Whether you’re renting or you own a home, it’s easy to let repeated tasks of home maintenance slip your mind. Over on Apartment Therapy they’ve outlined the five repeating home maintenance tasks most people forget and a simple way to remind yourself to do them. Photos by John Bracken, R/DV/RS, Richard Smith, Amy West, and Bruno Longo. The tasks you’re probably forgetting ar ...

Dropbox For Android Drops File Size Limits

Whitson Gordon — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 04:00:00 +1100

Dropbox updated its desktop clients yesterday with new photo features, including one that can give you up to 5GB of space and today the Android app has followed suit with a new beta that automatically uploads photos after you take them. You can choose to upload photos and videos over Wi-Fi only or over 3G and Wi-Fi, though it won’t upload large videos over 3G. Your first photo will give you ...

Get Better Battery Life And Performance On Your Android Phone With A New Kernel

Whitson Gordon — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 03:00:00 +1100

You may have heard about how flashing a new ROM can improve your Android experience, but flashing a new kernel is one of the best ways to improve your phone’s performance, battery life and even add some saucy new features. Whether you know anything about either, here’s what you need to know to make it happen. Title image remixed from an original by Ildi Papp. What Is A Kernel? A ker ...

Keep Clothes On Their Hangers With Rubber Bands

Whitson Gordon — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:30:00 +1100

If you have a particularly stubborn shirt that just doesn’t want to stay on its hanger, weblog Real Simple shows us how to keep it stationary with just a few rubber bands. This is much more of a problem with women’s clothes than men’s (hence the above image), but I’ve noticed that even I have a zip-up jacket or two that just falls off the hanger every once in a while for n ...

FreshBatch: Rename Files In Bulk On Mac

Thorin Klosowski — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:00:00 +1100

If you’ve ever imported a couple hundred photos from your camera, you know the most common file names a camera uses are essentially meaningless. If you want a quick and easy way to find and replace specific parts of a file name, FreshBatch is a lightweight tool that does just that. FreshBatch works essentially like a find and replace option, where it only replaces the keyword you list, but r ...

Read The Manual Before Making Big Purchases

Thorin Klosowski — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:30:00 +1100

Have you ever purchased a big appliance only to realise it’s not compatible with your home, or you can’t perform repairs on it without calling in an expert? Gadget blog Cool Tools has a simple solution: read the manual before you make the purchase. Image: John Bäckstrand. This is especially handy if you’re purchasing a big appliance, but it’s just as applicable to smal ...

Avid Studio Is A Feature Rich Video Editor For iPad

Thorin Klosowski — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +1100

If you’re looking for a video editor for iPad that offers a little more flexibility than iMovie and runs on a first generation device, Avid Studio has more options and control than other iPad offerings. The bulk of the app is remarkably similar to Apple’s iMovie app for iPad 2, but Avid Studio has a few notable features that give you more control over your video. This includes a variet ...

Bake An Egg In An Avocado For A Healthy Breakfast

Alan Henry — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:30:00 +1100

Avocados are amazing things — they’re delicious on their own, but they also have a lot of healthy fats, dietary fibres and vitamins and despite their high caloric value, they’re remarkably easy to prepare. If you have an avocado that’s too firm to use for something else, or you’re just in the mood for something new and healthy for breakfast, slice it in half, remote t ...

Use Flour And Peroxide To Clean Stains On Stone

Alan Henry — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +1100

Stains on stone counter-tops can be a pain to get out. Ideally, you’ll have stone sealed regularly so nothing gets through the seal, but if you’re in-between cycles or haven’t had your sealing done recently, a stray spill can turn your counter-top an unwanted colour. Thankfully, the fix is probably already in your kitchen, according to the folks at This Old House. Grab some flou ...

Dashlane Securely Manages Passwords And Form Info

Alan Henry — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:00:00 +1100

There are plenty of services that promise to keep your passwords safe, secure and synchronised across devices behind a single master password that you can remember, but Dashlane is a new service that does that, audits those passwords for strength, saves your form information for quick entry on new websites and even keeps track of the purchases you make with that information so you can see it all i ...

Does Your Mobile Phone Influence Your Sex Life?

Angus Kidman — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:30:06 +1100

Specifically: can you work out if someone is more likely to put out on the first date based on their smartphone? A survey of 1000 Canadian Match.com users suggests Android users top the ranks. Picture by Christopher The Vancouver Sun reports that the survey found Android users the most sexually open, with 62 per cent of Android users saying they had had sex on a first date, compared to 57 ...