For a large portion of the Australian population, plunging into an ice-cold pool is obviously the preferred option. But when you venture back inside and pray the air conditioning is still working, you can also try out these life-enhancing tech tips from the last week on Lifehacker:

See if offline Gmail has showed up in your account yet (no luck for me so far) Find the perfect PC wallpaper with a sneaky Google trick Check if you’re following Australia’s top Twitter users Make sure your in-ear headphones are working properly Find out if buying a movie ticket via your phone actually saves any time

We’re sure you’ve got the patriotism/BBQ/concert side sorted, but if you get some spare time over the long weekend, here’s five ideas from the past week worth following up:

Set up a GiveDo.com search for your favourite charity Get your pet a date with MyPetNeedsLove Try out Plinky as a means of maintaining your web presence Start using SpendingDiary to avoid personal fiscal chaos Find the best of Twitter on EpicTweet

Lifehacker will continue to publish US posts over the weekend; normal Aussie service will resume on Tuesday.

Whether next week is bringing Linux goodness in Tasmania, the dreaded return to work or yet another round of “haven’t the school holidays ended yet?”, get a sense of accomplishment by catching up with these tips from the last week:

Make sure your computer doesn’t catch fire in the summer heat Test out YouTube TV on your Wii or PS3 Log into that old Hotmail account and set it up for POP3 access Try out the Windows 7 beta on your Mac and see how the other 90% will soon live Set up some nifty multi-monitor wallpaper

While I continue to hunt down new tech ideas at CES in Vegas, you can have an altogether more relaxing time of it and catch up with some of this week’s hints:

Grab yourself a legitimate test copy of the Windows 7 beta Make some plans for the ideal home office Check if your budget allows too much for tech Get your Mac photos sorted with the new Picasa release Clean your toilet with Coke (no lie!)

OK, it might be holiday season, but there’s still plenty of new stuff kicking around Lifehacker. Here’s five ideas from the last week to consider pursuing when you’re not otherwise having fun:

Start shedding that Christmas poundage with Weightbot Photograph your keys for use in case of an emergency Check out the best beta releases from last year Get a free logo for that new business idea Fill out the Australian Broadband Survey

If you haven’t already done your shopping, let’s face it — you’re going to suffer (though our Christmas Gift Guide will help). But here’s some tips from the last week you can follow up when you struggle home exhausted:

Mess up your Flickr account by adding Santa imagery to selected pictures Design a calendar to include on your out-of-office message Find some cheap books for holiday reading with Booko Find out how little your local member cares about Internet censorship, then write to them explaining why they should be more concerned Whatever your preferred browser, make sure it’s fully patched

Get in the swim of things by catching up with these key productivity tips from the last week:

Try and win a bunch of stuff from Lifehacker by taking part in our reader survey (there’s a Sony Bravia TV and shopping vouchers up for grabs) and our Mozo competition (with $500 for your credit card bill on offer) Turn your caps lock key into a mute button Use your Christmas shopping online discount codes wisely Go nuts watching programs on ABC iView (assuming your ISP has joined the growing list which don’t include its content in your caps) Upgrade your copy of Google Chrome and see if you can spot the difference between the beta and non-beta releases

When you’re not in the mood to be social, get productive instead with these tips from the past week:

Take advantage of 25GB of free online storage from Microsoft (though you should keep an eye on your upload limits) Clean up Google by getting rid of SearchWiki Indulge yourself and order an Agora Android phone Get any last-minute Christmas parcels wrapped so you can send them on Monday Kickstart an exercise routine just in case you get fired (and if you’re heading to the beach, check if there’s a surf lifesaving patrol on duty

When you’re not busy overloading on Christmas shopping and chilling out, spend some quality time with your PC and try out these tips from the past week:

Make yourself an iPhone dock out of cardboard (or jailbreak your new 2.2 firmware if you don’t feel like messing with cardboard) Annoyed by Google’s new SearchWiki buttons? Get rid of them! Tweak your system and pretend you’re running Windows 7 Check out some web sites to help sort the pre-Christmas finances Curl up and read a free ebook

The working week is over! But add some organising spice to your leisure time by following up these tips from the past week on Lifehacker:

Download the upgraded Xbox experience (if you haven’t already) Dig up strange people from your past with Pipl Find an environmentally sound way to dispose of your old tech Play with Google SearchWiki and see if it makes your search experience any better, and use Let Me Google That For You to reduce Google hassles from others Find somewhere new to hide your loose cash at home