Readers offer their best tips for skipping the messages and disclaimers before your movie, having a Band-Aid with you at all times, and making laundry easier to do.
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.
Use Chapters To Skip Annoying Warnings
Robdawg_303 ignores the barrage of splash screens in his movies:
I have a tip for making watching Blu-ray and DVD discs more enjoyable by skipping the anti-piracy messages and studio disclaimers. When you load a Blu-ray or DVD and get to the menu, instead of pressing “play”, choose “chapter” and select “Chapter 2”. The movie will immediately start on chapter 2, and then you can press “chapter back” on your remote to go to the beginning of the title sequence. Depending on the movie, this can save you anywhere from 10-30 seconds of piracy warning screens and studio disclaimers.
To skip the trailers before the menu, you can also try pressing stop-stop-play.
Keep Band-Aids In Your Wallet For Quick Access
Mark Sandford shares a little survival tip:
Years ago, a coworker had a minor cut and my boss pulled a band aid out of his wallet. I thought that was pretty clever, and have done so as well for years. What surprises me is how often people ask me why. I think it’s pretty self-explanatory, but just in case: They’re flat, they’re light, and they fit nicely alongside my credit cards. Some need to be folded slightly, or have the paper that extends past the actual bandage tucked in, but it’s a great “just in case” supply. I might go two years without needing a band aid, but the cost of carrying one my wallet is negligible. And every now and then, I get to be the hero.
Photo by Svetlana Miljkovic.
Make Microsoft Office’s Thesaurus More Readable
Orange Exige solves a minor Office annoyance:
This is a stupid simple tip that I just realised myself and found too awesome (I’m lame I know) to keep to myself. Nothing crazy, but solves something that always bothered me.
If you’re like me and use MS Word (particularly with a zoom that leaves unused side margins) and its Thesaurus (Shift+F7) a lot, then read on…
It always bothered me when I’d pull up the thesaurus (which I do a lot) and my document would get pushed to the left to make room for the thesaurus toolbar, which is docked to the side by default. Then I’d close it and my document would get pushed to the right, back to the centre.
Well, click that arrow next to the X in said toolbox and click “Move”. Drag it to the side just a tiny bit and BAM! You got a floating thesaurus that stays in your margins and is completely unobtrusive. And it stays like that when you close it too.
It’s not a huge deal, but it does add a bit more flexibility, particularly if you’re like me and use the thesaurus/dictionary a lot (and are OCD to a very small degree).
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