From The Tips Box: Keychain Thumb Drives, iOS Icons, Cut And Paste

Readers offer their best tips for storing data on the go, moving iOS icons around, and cutting and pasting in Windows.

Every day we receive boatloads of great reader tips. From the Tips Box is where we round up some of our favourites. Got a tip of your own to share? Add it in the comments or send it using the contact tab on the right.

Replace Your Thumb Drive with a Mini USB Cable for Your Phone

Alaska Jack shows us another way to turn your keychain into a portable toolbox:

Until recently, I had a standard USB thumb drive on my keychain. But I already carry a Blackberry with an 8GB Micro-SD card. That got me thinking: why did I need to carry both?

So I replaced my thumb drive with a tiny CableJive microStubz cable from Amazon, secured with a small piece of velcro tape. It’s about the same size as the thumb drive, much but much more versatile. For one thing, it doesn’t just transfer data — I am always able to charge my phone if a spare USB outlet is available. Also I can use it not just on my phone, but on any device that takes a Micro-USB plug.

Move iOS Icons Without Accidentally Switching Screens

Jake discovers a little iOS trick for organising your icons:

I just got an iPhone, but I’m finding that moving icons around the screen can be really annoying. When I want to move an icon to the bottom right or top left slots on a home screen, iOS either thinks I want to put it into a folder or move to the next screen over. After doing this about 20 times, I realised a much easier way is to put that icon into the second slot from the right, then move the rightmost icon over one slot.

So, in the above screenshot, if I wanted to move Wikipedia to the top left slot, I would first put it where Dropbox currently is, then let go and move Qouch one slot over, so it swaps with Wikipedia. It’s a bit more tapping, but it’s a lot quicker and easier if you keep running into the “screen switching” problem.

Cut and Paste with Left-Handed Shortcuts

Photo by Ricardo Bernardo.

Meseta shares a lesser-known shortcut perfect for lefties:

Accidentally discovered on Windows 7 that Ctrl+Insert and Shift+Insert will copy and paste (respectively), while Shift+Delete will cut. Presumably useful for left-hand mouse users. This also explains why my keyboard has an insert key next to the Ctrl and below the Shift key.

Use Facebook’s Code Generator for Easier Two-Factor Authentication

SarcasmSiempre shares a tip for users of Facebook’s “login approval” feature:

Racebook has added a new feature to its mobile apps (at least on Android, can’t speak for iOS): Code Generator. If you have Login Approvals turned on, you can use the Code Generator to get your access code instead of waiting for a text message from Facebook. It’s found at the bottom of the left-hand navigation menu.