Readers offer their best tips for adding missing Firefox features to Chrome, keeping cables from slipping behind your desk, and defrosting food faster in the fridge.
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About the Tips Box: Every day we receive boatloads of great reader tips in our inbox, but for various reasons—maybe they're a bit too niche, maybe we couldn't find a good way to present it, or maybe we just couldn't fit it in—the tip didn't make the front page. From the Tips Box is where we round up some of our favorites for your buffet-style consumption. Got a tip of your own to share? Add it in the comments, share it here, or email it to tips at lifehacker.com.
Use I'm Feeling Lucky in Chrome's Address Bar
Anthony Sarkees shows us how to get I'm Feeling Lucky into Google's address bar, à la Firefox:
Use Binder Clips to Keep Unplugged Cables from Falling Away
Christian shows us a simple office hack that keeps cords organized and stable:
Defrost Food in the Butter Compartment for Quicker Fridge Defrosting
SimonEyez shows us a quicker way to defrost food in the fridge:
Use Your Phone to Keep Track of Credit Spending
vault14 tells us the quick and simple way that he keeps an eye on his spending:
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Don't like the gallery layout? Click here to view everything on one page.
About the Tips Box: Every day we receive boatloads of great reader tips in our inbox, but for various reasons—maybe they're a bit too niche, maybe we couldn't find a good way to present it, or maybe we just couldn't fit it in—the tip didn't make the front page. From the Tips Box is where we round up some of our favorites for your buffet-style consumption. Got a tip of your own to share? Add it in the comments, share it here, or email it to tips at lifehacker.com.
Use I'm Feeling Lucky in Chrome's Address Bar
Anthony Sarkees shows us how to get I'm Feeling Lucky into Google's address bar, à la Firefox:
I love Chrome's speed and stability, but one thing I sorely missed from firefox was being able to just type something into the awesomebar, and have it "just show up." If the Google pagerank is high enough, it loads the first result, skipping the results pages. So, if you type Lifehacker, it doesn't give you a google search for lifehacker, it just loads the page.
Chrome can replicate this functionality by changing its default search to I'm Feeling Lucky. You do that by adding this entry to your search engines, and then making it the default: http://www.google.com/search?q=%s&btnI=Im+Feeling+Lucky
Chrome can replicate this functionality by changing its default search to I'm Feeling Lucky. You do that by adding this entry to your search engines, and then making it the default: http://www.google.com/search?q=%s&btnI=Im+Feeling+Lucky
Use Binder Clips to Keep Unplugged Cables from Falling Away
Christian shows us a simple office hack that keeps cords organized and stable:
I keep a couple of these big paper clips attached to the back of my desk in order to hold cords and cables that I want to make sure don't slide back behind my desk when they're not attached to something. Since I'm frequently switching between laptops - disconnecting then reconnecting multiple cables - this technique has saved me a huge amount of time and frustration. No more grabbing at cables as they slip away behind the desk, then trying to fish them back up.
I use another one of these clips with my nightstand since I have several cables secured there, as well (phone charger, Kindle charger, and laptop cord).
I use another one of these clips with my nightstand since I have several cables secured there, as well (phone charger, Kindle charger, and laptop cord).
Defrost Food in the Butter Compartment for Quicker Fridge Defrosting
SimonEyez shows us a quicker way to defrost food in the fridge:
Usually, when I freeze meat/vegetables, I freeze them in individual portions using ziplock bags.
To unfreeze them quickly(less than a night), I put them in the butter compartment in the refrigerator door with the setting on "Soft Butter".
To unfreeze them quickly(less than a night), I put them in the butter compartment in the refrigerator door with the setting on "Soft Butter".
Use Your Phone to Keep Track of Credit Spending
vault14 tells us the quick and simple way that he keeps an eye on his spending:
To keep track of my credit card expenses every month, I enter how much I want to spend on credit into my phone's calculator on the 1st of every month. Then whenever I use my credit card, I pull out my phone and subtract how much I just spent. It makes spending money on credit much more "real" and removes the abstraction inherit in credit cards.
Even if you use a service like Mint to keep track of your spending, this trick is nice because you have to actively subtract the spent funds and watch the money go away—good if, even with money-tracking services, you still have trouble reigning in spending.