What's something you know that others don't that makes your life a lot easier?

[manlymatt83]

Case in point:

I was a passenger in a car today, and the driver turned on the radio to hear the traffic report. Ten minutes later, a mouthful of jargon, and she kind of knew which route to take. Meanwhile, I opened up waze (http://www.waze.com/), had social GPS, traffic updates, police updates, etc. and knew exactly which route would be best. To me, this is something a lot of people don't know about that saves me a lot of time.

What about you? What's something you've learned that's almost second nature to you at this point, but when you take a step back, you realize others could truly benefit from that knowledge and/or save a lot of time?

 

[dank69]

You don't need lotion.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Others know about waze.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Cds that skip can be fixed by polishing them with toothpaste.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Keeping my eyes open and my mouth shut seems to be working well so far.

 

[alien42]

Google maps already uses Waze, is there any benefit to using waze.com directly?

 

[GagHalfrunt]

You don't need lotion.

It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.

 

[EliteRetard]

 

[SP33Demon]

That people don't need to work out to lose weight. Since I fixed my diet (e.g. cut the carbs out of breakfast), my life has become immensely easier due to dropping 15 lbs and keeping it off due to eating clean. On a related note, another thing that makes protein consumption easier = hard boiled egg machines. PM me if you want to know of a good one that cooks 7 at a time.

 

[SP33Demon]

Google maps already uses Waze, is there any benefit to using waze.com directly?

I've actually had waze give me inaccurate directions, but that was pre-GMaps. Haven't felt the need to try them since, gmaps has never failed me.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

That people don't need to work out to lose weight. Since I fixed my diet (e.g. cut the carbs out of breakfast), my life has become immensely easier due to dropping 15 lbs and keeping it off due to eating clean. On a related note, another thing that makes protein consumption easier = hard boiled egg machines. PM me if you want to know of a good one that cooks 7 at a time.

The converse is that people can eat almost anything they want and not get fat if they're willing to exercise. I LOVE baked goods and salty snacks, but don't gain an ounce because I stay very active. No need to diet, learn to enjoy healthy activities and you can also enjoy food.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

based on CC debt & retirement savings stats, im gonna have to go with Compounding Interest

 

[Ken g6]

ViM. It takes quite awhile<Esc>c?w<enter> long time to learn, though.

Also, Stylish and http://userstyles.org. Manipulates content on any page. Stylish is moderately hard to learn and has limits, but more portable than Greasemonkey and much more portable than browser plugins.

 

[SMOGZINN]

The true secrets, the important things. Fourteen words to make someone fall in love with you forever. Seven words to make them go without pain. How to say good-bye to a friend who is dying. How to be poor. How to be rich. How to rediscover dreams when the world has stolen them

 

[Blackjack200]

The true secrets, the important things. Fourteen words to make someone fall in love with you forever. Seven words to make them go without pain. How to say good-bye to a friend who is dying. How to be poor. How to be rich. How to rediscover dreams when the world has stolen them

For some reason I just imagined Morgan Freeman saying that.

Titty sprinkles

 

[mmntech]

based on CC debt & retirement savings stats, im gonna have to go with Compounding Interest

This.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I have a route I take to work most days. Google Maps/Waze/everything says it takes longer than alternate routes, but the way the lights flow it is easily the fastest trip and the one with the least amount of hassle (unlike other routes I don't have to merge across traffic into the left lane for example).

Well, I am not the ONLY person that knows of this route, I learned it following others. But enough don't take it that I can.

 

[sdifox]

neffing

 

[highland145]

Wife has 2 jobs.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Google maps already uses Waze, is there any benefit to using waze.com directly?

I hate the new Gmaps with waze. It doesn't tell you what happened or how long the projected time of the incident is anymore. It just says "Accident reported by Waze".

Sigalert needs to make an app or something. Their site is amazing when you need to know anything about traffic.

 

[KeithTalent]

Gesture search on my phone. I'm sure tonnes of people use it, but every time someone in my real life see me using it, they have no idea what it is and think it's the greatest thing ever. Saves me a lot of flipping around my phone trying to find crap.

KT

 

[The_Dude8]

put baking soda when making a boil egg, since the baking soda will breaking up the shell much easier.

 

[PenguinPower]

That people don't need to work out to lose weight. Since I fixed my diet (e.g. cut the carbs out of breakfast), my life has become immensely easier due to dropping 15 lbs and keeping it off due to eating clean. On a related note, another thing that makes protein consumption easier = hard boiled egg machines. PM me if you want to know of a good one that cooks 7 at a time.

Jesus...this is a huge pet peeve. WTF is eating clean? Please define.

 

[shortylickens]

based on CC debt & retirement savings stats, im gonna have to go with Compounding Interest

yeah, thats something not enough people learn in high school.

 

[Ichinisan]

I am not at liberty to say.

[edit]
My contribution:

Switch between open windows and applications
[Alt]+[Tab]
[Alt]+[Shift]+[Tab]

Switch between tabs or multiple documents
[Ctrl]+[Tab]
[Ctrl]+[Shift]+[Tab]

Alternate task switcher
[Win]+[Tab]
[Win]+[Shift]+[Tab]
(Flip 3D in Windows Vista/7

Open previously-closed tabs (repeat for more)
[Ctrl]+[Shift]+[T]
(works in IE/Firefox/Chrome. I dunno about Opera and Safari.)

Open a new Chrome window in "incognito" mode.
[Ctrl]+[Shift]+[N]

New tab
[Ctrl]+[T]

Though I usually just do a new tab first, I can also type an address or keyword shortcut in the address bar of the current tab...then hold [Alt] and press [Enter] to open it in a new tab.

You can middle-click or control-click the back or forward buttons in Chrome to open a new tab with the same navigation buffer.

Chrome "search" providers work as keyword shortcuts and you can pass variables to them. You can make your own. Some that I set up:

• "mac",([Space] or [Tab]),[full or partial MAC address] to look-up a device manufacturer by its OUI.
• "mx",([Space] or [Tab]),[email domain name]
  look-up a domain on MX Toolbox.
• "gmap",([Space] or [Tab]),[search terms]
  search on Google Maps
• "gis",([Space] or [Tab]),[search terms]
  search on Google Image Search
• "ga",([Space] or [Tab]),[domain name]
  go to the Google Apps log-in page for one of the many domains I have to manage

You can sometimes edit variables in URLs. I can't think of any specific examples, but this has been very useful to me.

In Chrome, you can use [F12] or right-click an element and choose "inspect element" to change properties of DOM objects. I was recently on a page where a javascript error caused the "submit" button to be disabled. I changed the property and I was able to submit. I'll also change the size / type properties on text boxes to make things easier. I really didn't want to bring awareness to real-time DOM editing because I've been able to do some neat things with it. One of the practical uses is to clean up all the "visual noise" from a web page when I'm going to print or screenshot something. For example, printing an article without the comments, sidebar ads, web site header (categories and stuff), footer, etc... I delete the containing DIVs for those sections and the page reformats to use the space that is freed-up.

That reminds me: Screenshots

A lot of people know this:
[Print Screen|SysRq],Paste

However, I get emailed screenshots where the part I'm supposed to see is small and unreadable because the screenshot includes 2 whole monitors. Just do this:
[Alt]+[Print Screen|SysRq],Paste

That way, you only capture the current window.

Unless the screenshot is of a photo or something, PNG is the most appropriate type of compression and it's lossless. Screenshots of a web page or application with JPG artifacts really irritate me.

MSPAINT can save PNG format. My screenshot process:

• [Alt]+[Space],[R] to restore a maximized window so I can resize it
• [Alt]+[Space],,[Arrow Keys] to resize. Use [Ctrl] for pixel precision.
  [*][Alt]+[Print Screen|SysRq] to capture the screenshot to clipboard
  [*][Win]+[R],"mspaint",[Enter] to open MSPAINT
  [*][Ctrl]+[E],[1],[Tab],[1],[Enter] to set the blank image to 1x1 pixel
  [*][Ctrl]+[V] or [Shift]+[Ins] to paste the screenshot
  [*][Ctrl]+ to open Save dialog
  [*][enter filename]
  [*][Tab],[P],[Enter] to select PNG format and save
  

Resizing windows
Use [Ctrl]+[Arrow Keys] to move 1 pixel at a time
(helps me make the window as small as possible without scrollbars before a screenshot)

AeroSnap - Snap to sides
[Win]+[Left Arrow]
[Win]+[Right Arrow]
(keep going to move across multiple displays)

AeroSnap - Maximize
[Win]+[Up Arrow]

AeroSnap - Restore to window or minimize
[Win]+[Down Arrow]

Access control box
[Alt]+[Space]
(usually works even when there's no visible control box)

Show drop-down menu bar when hidden
[Alt]

Min, Restore, Max, Close, Move, Resize
[Alt]+[Space],[N]
[Alt]+[Space],[R]
[Alt]+[Space],[X]
[Alt]+[Space],[C]
[Alt]+[Space],[M]
[Alt]+[Space],

On titlebar or taskbar button...
Right-Click,[N]
Right-Click,[R]
Right-Click,[X]
Right-Click,[C]
Right-Click,[M]
Right-Click,

Rename selected file/object or edit cell
[F2]

Refresh folder or web page
[F5]

Some kind of undocumented "super refresh" that sometimes overrides aggressive DNS caching
[Ctrl]+[F5]
(seems to work in IE/FF/Chrome)

Restart or shutdown
[Win]+[R],"shutdown -r -t 0",[Enter]
[Win]+[R],"shutdown -s -t 0",[Enter]
(great when you're using Remote Desktop Connection)

Focus the address bar in a folder or browser, switch between frames and panels in an application
[F6]

File properties (or full-screen in some games and media players)
[Alt]+[Enter]

System Properties
[Win]+[Pause|Break]

Start Menu for systems without a [Win] key
[Ctrl]+[Esc]

Open link in new window
Middle-click
[Ctrl]+Click

Close tab
Middle-click
Right-Click,[C] (doesn't work in Chrome)

Middle-click a thumbnail preview in Windows 7 or 8 to close the program.

Close tab or document
[Ctrl]+[F4]
[Ctrl]+[W]

Close an application or folder
Right-Click,[C] (on titlebar or taskbar button)
[Alt]+[F4]
[Alt],[F],[X]
Double-click the control box at the top-left corner

Task Manager
Right-Click,[T] (on taskbar)
[Ctrl]+[Shift]+[Esc]
[Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Del]
[Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Del],[T]

Adjust zoom or text size
[Ctrl]+[+] or [Ctrl]+[=]
[Ctrl]+[-]
[Ctrl]+MouseWheel

Reset zoom or text size
[Ctrl]+[0]

Your gateway to enlightenment
[Win]+[R]
[Win]+[R],"cmd",[Enter]

Show/hide desktop (even when there are dialogs that cannot be minimized)
[Win]+[D]

Minimize all
[Win]+[M]

Win7/8 Magnifier utility can be invoked, even when it's not running
[Win]+[+] or [Win]+[=]
[Win]+[-]

Close Magnify.exe
[Win]+[Esc]

Delete an entire word
[Ctrl]+[Backspace]

Move insertion point through text one-word-at-a-time
[Ctrl]+[Arrow]
[Shift]+[Arrow]
(also works while holding [Shift] to select)

Cut
[Shift]+[Del]
[Ctrl]+[X]
Right-Click,[T]

Copy
[Shift]+([Del],[Ins])
[Ctrl]+[C]
Right-Click,[C]

Paste
[Shift]+[Ins]
[Ctrl]+[V]
Right-Click,[P]

Select multiple contiguous icons, list items, or text.
[Shift]+Click

Select All
[Ctrl]+[A]

Permanently Delete
[Shift]+[Del]
(skips trash/recycle bin for files and most email software)

Select multiple non-contiguous list items.
[Ctrl]+Click
[Ctrl]+[Space]

Insert a tab-indent character in some text boxes that normally lose focus when you press the [Tab] key.
[Ctrl]+

Since Windows XP, underlined access keys are hidden by default. You can change an option to make them always-visible.
[Alt]+[underlined letter]
I use this thousands of times daily. Crazy tedious tasks are reduced to a brief flash of dialogs.

"..." on a button or context menu usually means there's another dialog.

[Tab] to change focus between UI elements (buttons, text boxes, check marks, etc).
[Shift]+[Tab] to move backward through UI elements.
[Space] to "click" a UI element.

Bold button is the action that happens when you press [Enter] while another UI element has focus.

Bold context menu option would be the default action if you double-clicked the object.

Oh, yeah...enable "quick edit mode" for your command Window and learn how to use it.

Also, [Ctrl]+[Pause|Break] will show ping statistics without interrupting a continuous ping.
For some reason, [Ctrl]+[Scroll Lock] also works on my XP system.

In most word / email editors (including Gmail) you can press [Ctrl]+[K] after selecting text to add a target URL.

Search in-page or in-document
[Ctrl]+[F]
[F3] (press repeatedly to jump through search results even after dialog is dismissed)

Search-and-replace
[Ctrl]+[H]

Just because I wouldn't want to leave them out...

Bold, Italicize, Underline
[Ctrl]+
[Ctrl]+
[Ctrl]+

...but everybody should know that.

Enable Gmail keyboard shortcuts and learn them. I absolutely love how many functions I can perform with my left hand on the keyboard and my right hand on the mouse.

You can select the item you want from almost any drop-down box by typing the first few letters while it has keyboard focus. If you have difficulty getting keyboard focus onto the box, click the box and click again to collapse the list...then start typing the item you want.

Almost any time I assign a name to a file, I almost always start with the date in this format:
YYYY-MM-DD_file_name.ext

Really helps me.