lifehacker Archives - The Silicon Underground

Plywood floors for a hardwood look at around $1 per sqft

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 11:00:57 +0000

A comment over at Lifehacker got me thinking about plywood as flooring, which led me to a blog post at Quarry Orchard. The author is one of many people who have had success making floors out of strips cut from ordinary

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Don’t make your whole IRA contribution in April. Or January, for that matter

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 11:00:13 +0000

Lifehacker says it costs you money to make your IRA contribution all in April. Unfortunately, their advice to contribute in January is an oversimplification. Don’t make your whole IRA contribution in April, but don’t do it in any other single month

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Don’t use personal information as your wifi network name

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 11:00:29 +0000

This weekend Lifehacker advised against using things like your name and address as your wifi network name or SSID–if you’re targeted for attack, it makes you that much easier to find when your wifi name is your name or address.

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Don’t buy a “desktop replacement” laptop

Dave Farquhar — Thu, 23 Oct 2014 11:00:38 +0000

I found this oldie but goodie Lifehacker article: When two computers are cheaper than one. It advocates buying a cheap laptop and building a desktop PC to meet your computing needs. I think it makes a lot of sense. A

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Do this before hitting send

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 11:00:42 +0000

Lifehacker suggests writing e-mail backwards. That’s not exactly what I do, but the effect is about the same. Most people get way too much e-mail, and working in shops where that wasn’t true got me in some bad habits. In

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Setting up Retropie on the Raspberry Pi

Dave Farquhar — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 11:00:27 +0000

I bought a Raspberry Pi over the weekend intending to turn it into a retro gaming system. I’d rather not have a mess of systems and cartridges out for my kids to tear up and to constantly have to switch

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Chasing dreams

Dave Farquhar — Thu, 19 Jun 2014 11:00:29 +0000

Lifehacker says to follow your skills rather than chasing your dreams. There’s something to this. Two years ago I had a job writing security documentation. The CISO where I work now didn’t want to hire me because he was sure

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Tips on buying used stuff

Dave Farquhar — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 11:00:43 +0000

I just found a Lifehacker piece on buying used stuff without getting ripped off. I have plenty of experience in this area. The key, I think, is to deal in person, and test as much functionality as you can before

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The problem with Lifehacker’s computer manufacturer ranking

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 11:00:46 +0000

Lifehacker posted a controversial computer manufacturer ranking this week. I’m not sure how you can rank anything with Apple, HP, and Dell in it and not be controversial–someone’s going to be offended that their favorite isn’t at the top and

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Don’t research when you’re in a groove. Yes. That.

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 01:25:45 +0000

Lifehacker has a great writing tip that I take for granted, but come to think of it, may not be obvious to everyone: When you’re in a groove, don’t interrupt your writing with research. The groove is much too valuable

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