11 posts tagged “tips”

Lifehack just posted an interesting collection of links on various do it yourself topics covering -

• Every How-To They Can Get Their Hands On
• Become a Technophile in Ten Easy Steps
• Habitat Hacks You Can Live With
• Dining on a DIY Diet
• Sewing and Other ‘Feminine Arts’
• Doing Business Your Way
• Hack Your Wallet and What’s In It
• Get Your Brain to the Optimal Level

Check out the complete list here - http://www.lifehack.org/articles/featured/80-how-to-sites-worth-bookmarking.html

Before it's too late, hop over to http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/how-to-photograph-fireworks/ and get some tips on photographing fireworks.  Or you can be lazy like me, put your camera on a tripod and select fireworks mode on the camera.  Your call...

This is one of the better listing 6 gas-saving myths, some of which are true, and some that are more of a myth than fact.  Check it out - CNNMONEY.COM - 6 gas-saving myths

Not sure where I originally found this, but I was going through my bookmark folder for sites I want to blog about and stumbled onto this.  As most of you can figure out, I don't do too many self portraits.  I prefer to be behind the lens and not in front of it.  Still, I thought this article has some great advice on taking better self portraits and thought some people would find this useful.

I’m ready for my closeup: 6 methods for perfectly focused self-portraits | Photodoto

http://photodoto.com/im-ready-for-my-...

Self-portrait shooters usually rely on the trial-and-error method of focusing. Shoot, shoot, and shoot again until the perfect combination of pose, exposure, and focus are achieved. But there is a better way (several, in fact)! All of these methods are quick and easy and will give you accurate focusing without a lot of frustrating trial and error.

Stop what you are doing and take 5 minutes to read this article.  Some good tips here.  My favorite?  Number 11 -

All that stuff that’s stressing you out — it won’t matter in 5 years, let alone 15. When things are happening to you right now, they mean all the world. I had deadlines and projects and people breathing down my neck, and my stress levels went through the roof. I don’t regret the hard work (see above) but I think I would have been less stressed if I could have just realized that it wouldn’t matter a single bit just a few years down the road. Perspective is a good thing to learn.

20 Things I Wish I Had Known When Starting Out in Life | Zen Habits

http://zenhabits.net/2008/02/20-thing...

Would I change things? I’m not so sure. I might never have gotten into a mountain of debt, but then I wouldn’t have learned the amazing satisfaction of getting out of it. I might have made better career choices, but then I wouldn’t have all the work experience that makes me the blogger and writer that I am today.

Found this off of Lifehacker.  All I can say is brilliant!!  One less annoyance to deal with.

Filing: Keep Hanging Folders from Sliding with Binder Clips

http://lifehacker.com/339951/keep-han...

Lifehacker reader Mike came up with a cheap, handy solution to the problem of hanging folders sliding back and forth every time he opened a filing drawer. By attaching some basic binder clips to his drawer's folder rails, his folders are no longer victim to the forces of momentum, and files he wants to keep within quick reach stay that way. Add folder management to a growing list of clip-enabled DIY solutions—including a makeshift cable catcher, toothpaste tube maintainer and, of course, Merlin Mann's Hipster PDA. Binder clips—is there anything they can't do? Photo provided by Mike.

Seeing how the world is coming to an end, I thought I should post this nifty article from Popular Mechanics.  There are some good tips here.  Hopefully I won't have to ever use thiem.

Natural Disaster Recovery - Essential Skills, Tools, Tactics - Tornado - Hurricane - Flood - Earthqu

http://www.popularmechanics.com/survival

How to Survive Anything Mother Nature Throws at You One hundred years of technological progress can be erased in minutes by nature’s fury. Recent disasters have left not only destruction, but also heroism in their wake, and we can learn from the experiences of the survivors.AUDIO SLIDESHOW: Portraits from Tornado-Torn KansasCHECKLIST: 107 Pieces of Gear-on-the-Go for Your Car, Backpack and HomeQUIZ: Are You Ready for Disaster?

Now and then, I like to peruse lifehack.org to find advise on how to improve one's self.  One of the items is a list of tips to improve your mental prowess - 22 Ways To Overclock Your Brain.  While I've heard most of the tips, the one to "Ask Why" kind of struck me.  A lot of the times when something happens, I just accept it and move on.  Perhaps, now and then, I need to stop and reflect and ask why.  Anyhow, I thought the article was interesting and wanted to share.

I'm pretty good about backing up my hard drive (mainly my photos and itunes music) on a regular basis to my external hard drive.  I try keep it simple and use Microsoft's free Synctoy and in just a couple of clicks, done!  You can download it here -  SyncToy: the smart way to copy files.  An external hard drive that can store 60 to 160 gigabytes can be had for less than $100s.  To me, this is the easiest way to backup a large amount of data in a timely manner.

If your backup requirements are minimal, another simple solution is to get a usb thumb drive and copy your files to it.  You can find them for around $20s or less which holds a gigabyte of data.  Heck, you can even get one that can store up to two gigabytes for less than $30.  Check out Newegg.com, ZipZoomfly.com, or TigerDirect.com for some great deals.  While most of these can survive a trip through the washing machine, they are not indestructable and can break or go bad over time.

I also try to backup key files to CR-Rs/DVD-Rs as well, just as a Plan B in case my drive goes bad.  I have developed a ritual to back my photos to disc while I'm traveling.   But at home, I'm just as regular at doing this as someone who ate a bunch of cheese - not often.  Even though DVD-Rs and CD-Rs are somewhat fragile, they are more portable than carring around an external hard drive.  If you are fanatical about backups, you might want to keep copies of the discs off site, like at a family meber's home or at your friends in case your place is detroyed by a (insert disaters here).  Yes, I'll be the first to admit I'm lazy.  So taking the time to backing up to discs and storying them off site to me is tedious.  I also don't want to buy a second external hard drive and swap offsite either.  Which leads me to this....

During my time off work, I have been catching up on my podcasts.  One of which is the The Real Deal.  This show is hosted by Tom Merritt over at cnet.  Don't fret my non-geeks.  This podcast doesn't bog you down with the geek-speak.  The whole premise of this podcast is to "...give you access to secrets and info that will help you master the confusing world of technology."  In this episode - Real Deal 29 - Online Storage, Tom covers several free on-line storage sites in which you can upload your data.  One of them even has the option to add a drive letter to your computer so you can just drag and drop your files.  Depending on how you connect to the internet, this might take a while uploading to their website, but it give you an option to keep some or all of your key data offsite.  There are some other pros and cons to this process, which are covered in the podcast as well.  The episode is just over 15 minutes, so find a stoping point and take a listen.  And if anything else, BACK UP YOUR DATA!!!!

Going through various sites, and I stumbled onto this blog - How to Photograph Christmas Lights.  Even though Christmas is close, there's still time to go out and snap some pics...that is if it isn't raining.

Here's the link - How to Photograph Christmas Lights