If my home had a Game of Thrones-style family motto, it would be "Honey, can you call my phone?" It's the usual way to find your misplaced device. But it doesn't work very well if you leave your phone on vibrate.
Tagged With clever uses
When I’m in another city and I want to see what neighbourhoods to wander, I crack open Foursquare. Some people use Yelp, some look for the brown-tinted areas on Google Maps. My friend Henry uses Pokemon GO.
Redditors are sharing their favourite “life pro tips” in an AskReddit thread, and we’ve collected the best below. Strung together, they feel like a mundane modern Art of War: Briefly-worded tactics and strategies for fighting the good fight. Learn tricks for falling asleep, starting hard tasks and calculating percentages.
Video: Rubber bands actually make pretty good rubbers, it turns out. They can also hold a pair of pliers shut, or keep a lid on a pot while you carry it around. But they make crappy bookmarks. In this video, The King of Random host Nate tests 10 popular rubber band hacks to see if they really work.
We've shown you how to open a beer bottle with a knife, a spoon, a lighter, a stapler, a newspaper, a Mac power brick, a countertop, a frisbee and your arm. Now a video on Reddit shows you how to open a beer bottle with a beer bottle - or, if you're clever, with just a bottle cap.
Losing your wallet is like losing a part of you. Everything is in there — your driver's licence, your credit cards, your membership IDs and your photos of loved ones. This clever trick can help you avoid losing your wallet forever the next time you venture out into the outdoors.
If your clothes seem to have more static cling in the cold months of winter, you're not crazy. The lack of humidity makes it a lot easier for static electricity to build up. Fortunately, there are few things you can do to get rid of it.
When I get bored at the chemist, I buy gimmicky stuff I don't need. That's how I finally discovered liquid bandage, which it turns out I do need, because it's great for small cuts, blisters, and any cut on my hand. Liquid bandage replaces a normal bandage with a layer of clear liquid applied directly to the wound.
Even if you are building a brand new computer, odds are you have some old gear around the house you'd like to get as much life out of as possible. From phones to old laptops to old TVs, here are some tips to speed up and clean up your older tech.
I always feel a little unsure as a guest in someone else's home. I want to be as polite as possible, and that can lead to some anxiety. Can I go through that door? Are those snacks for everyone? Where's the bathroom? Here's a trick that can help worrying guests such as me.
Fat makes food taste good, but greasy food has a way of lingering in the air - and on the dishes - long after a meal has ended. If you're sick of finding oil slicks on dishes you could have sworn were clean, you owe it to yourself to fill a spray bottle with vinegar and keep it near your kitchen sink.
Despite its name, the rice cooker is not a single-minded kitchen unitasker. Sure, it is the easiest way to make perfect rice, but it's also a convenient way to cook a wide variety of foods. Here are a few examples that might just convince you to invest in a rice cooker or use yours more often.
Magnetic knife holders are a great way to keep your knives at the ready, sure, but they're also useful for keeping other household items organised and easy to grab. (That is, provided they're a good amount of metal in them, such as drill bits or paperclips.) Below, other strategies for putting a magnetic knife strip to use in your bathroom, office, workshop and kitchen.
Most of us learned how to tie our shoes a certain way using both of our hands. A story about a bunny that goes into a hole or something? Whatever. You don't need two hands to tell that tale. Here's how Team USA Paralympic athlete Megan Absten gets her shoes on before a big race, using just one hand.
Your garbage smells bad. If you get one of those airtight lidded bins, your garbage only smells bad when you open it, releasing a wet rancid fog right into your face. The best fix is to separate your food waste and store it in the freezer. But unless you're composting that food waste, that's too much work. Instead - or also - add some essential oil.
Who needs a crummy plastic bag when you can carry just about anything with an attractive piece of cloth? Enter the art of Furoshiki, or the traditional Japanese wrapping cloth that's been used to transport and wrap items for over a thousand years.
Video: If you've dropped something in the pool and can't spot it from above the water, this super simple trick can help.
Besides eating it as quickly as possible, I have yet to find a truly elegant way for keeping ice cream from melting while I enjoy it. Luckily, cup genius and real American hero Donald Li has discovered that a bowl of a delicious frozen dairy fits perfectly in a Yeti Rambler.
You're at a friend's house when nature calls. So you take care of business, then flush the toilet -- and nothing happens. After a quick scan of the bathroom, you realise there's not a plunger or toilet brush in sight. Here's what you do.
Rock climbers have long hailed the beloved carabiner, a tool unmatched in versatility. But did you know that it's also a baby registry staple? About 10 years ago, some marketing genius took the ubiquitous metal clip and rebranded it with a terrible name: The Mommy Hook. What it is: Uh, still just a large carabiner clip. What it can do for parents: So much, actually! If you have one of these things - whether you choose to call it by its mummy-fied name or not - here are some ways to use it to make your life a little bit easier.
