LED Keyboards: Weeks

This week we tackled all the new Apple news, hacked our cars, figured out why we're so tired all the time, and learned everything Google's voice commands can do. Here's a look back.

iOS 7 won't be coming to your iPhone and iPad until this fall, but a lot of its best features are available through third-party apps and jailbreak hacks right now. If you want to get in on the action early, here a few ways to add some of the new functionality right now.

You spend an awful lot of time in your car every day, especially if you have a long commute—so why settle for what you're given when you can make it better on the cheap? Here are 10 ways to do just that.

Dear Lifehacker,
I get a good 7–8 hours of sleep every night and exercise at least 3 times a week, but somehow I still feel tired every day. What’s sapping my energy and what can I do about it?

If you carry around a multitool in your bag or pocket for quick fixes, repair work, or just in case you need a sharp edge, a screwdriver, or pair of scissors, you're in good company. Many of you do, and this week we wanted to take a look at some of the best available—the ones that pack useful tools, are still portable, and offer great bang for the buck. Here are five of the best, based on your nominations.

Voice search is one of those features that seems silly, but is awesome once you start using it. Not convinced? Here are a few ways to turn voice search from a silly gimmick into a useful productivity tool.

Today, Apple announced iOS 7 with a ton of new features, a complete overhaul to the interface, and plenty more. Here are all the new features.

We've all hit that point where we can't figure out exactly what we really want to do with our lives. It can come when you're 18 or when you're 50, and it's always a difficult process to work through. It's not hopeless, though! Here are a few ways to help you figure it out.

Dear Lifehacker,
I like Apple hardware, but it doesn't run cheap and I'm not sure I want to use OS X. I know I can run Windows, but am I wasting money purchasing a Mac if I'm not using it as a Mac? When does it make sense to buy Apple hardware instead of a standard PC?

Back in 1991, Warren Buffett met Bill Gates, though as he tells career community website Levo League, neither of them were excited to see one another. But it turned out they had a great time talking—and during the course of the conversation, Buffett pulled out the little black date book that he carries in his pocket. He flipped through it: The pages were practically empty.

If you haven't heard yet, Gmail is rolling out a new tabbed interface for the inbox on both desktop and mobile. At first glance, this looks great for email organization. On further inspection, these new tabs are confusing as hell. Here's how to make sense of the new tabs and customize them for your own filters.

The internet is aflame with the news that the National Security Agency may be spying on phone calls and internet access of American citizens, and the possibility that they've partnered with some of the biggest tech companies in the world—Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Skype, and others—to request and access data directly whenever they want it. Let's take a look at what exactly is going on, how long it's been happening, and what—if anything—you can do about it.

Friday, August 30, 2013

This Week's Top Downloads

Every week, we share a number of downloads for all platforms to help you get things done. Here were the top downloads from this week.

Android: Gmail just got a new update with a brand new inbox featuring labels, contact images, and indicators for your promotional, update, and social notifications. Additionally, new slide-out navigation makes it easy to access whatever you need when you need it.

As more music services appear on the scene, it's become more and more difficult to keep your library from becoming a disjointed, cluttered mess split between 10 different apps. Tomahawk is a free, cross-platform music player that combines a wide variety of services and files into one place so you can have one giant mega-library of everything you want.

Windows: If you've ever played a full-screen game and wished you could open a browser or respond to an IM without tabbing out, Overwolf is the utility for you. The app adds useful tools so you can look up strategies, chat with friends, control your music, and more, all without leaving the game.

Android: Whether you parked on a side street downtown or in a huge lot at a stadium, it's not always easy to find your car at the end of the day. Valet is an elegant app that gets you back to your vehicle without any confusion.

Windows/Web: LaMP, or Lingual Media Player, is a neat program for learning a new language through watching videos—one of the best ways to become more efficient in a foreign language. The program displays foreign language subtitles for any film you load into the media player or videos you select from YouTube.

If you've been looking to go digital with your comic book collection, you're probably overwhelmed with all the comic readers available on the iPhone and iPad. Fret no more: Comic Zeal is the app you want.

iOS: If you've ever gone over on your iPhone's data plan you know the horrible amount of money you get charged. To keep track of that usage, we like DataMan Next, and it's currently free.

Android: Your device has several different volume levels: media, notifications, phone call, alarms, etc. Slider Widget manages them all in one place.

Windows: F.lux, one of our favorite apps that manages your devices' color temperature based on time of day, just got a new beta that adds a couple sweet new features.

Mac/iOS: If you haven't settled on a Google Reader replacement yet, NewsBar offers a tempting option if you live inside the Apple ecosystem.

View the original article here

Saturday, August 17, 2013

This Week's Most Popular Posts: May 31st to June 7th

This week we made more time for the important stuff, taught ourselves to code in eight weeks, reviewed the biggest job interview mistakes, and picked out the best mechanical keyboard. Here's a look back.

We've all had days where we feel a little rushed and can't be bothered with things like breakfast, a workout, or that grocery shopping you've been putting off. Make all those chores easier with these time-saving tips.

To a lot of non-developers, learning to code seems like an impossibly daunting task. However, thanks to a number of great resources that have recently been put online for free— teaching yourself to code has never been easier. I started learning to code earlier this year and can say from experience that learning enough to build your own prototype is not as hard as it seems. In fact, if you want to have a functioning prototype within two months without taking a day off work, it’s completely doable.

They meet more people in an afternoon than most of us do in a year. But what faux pas do human resources pros see again and again during the interview process? We picked the brains of two high-profile executives to find out what you definitely should and shouldn't say, as well as what they secretly think of your résumé.

Mechanical keyboards, or keyboards with full, individual switches under every key, have exploded in popularity recently, although the technology inside is as old as the keyboard itself. There's really no substitute for that solid, clicking sensation under your fingers as you type, and the satisfying sound each key makes when you press it. However, choosing the best mechanical keyboard can be tricky, since there are dozens of models, different switch types, and more popping up every day. Here's how to tell them all apart and pick the right one for you.

The best headphones for sitting at your computer or in your home listening to music may not be the best headphones to put in your ears while you're jogging around town. Activity will make them fall out and noise isolation or closed ear models will make it hard to hear your surroundings, but you still want good audio quality for your money. We asked you for the best headphones for those workout sessions at the gym, and here are the five best, based on your nominations.

Whether or not your child grows up to be the next Zuckerberg, programming is a highly useful skill for him or her to learn. It teaches vital problem-solving, creativity, and communication skills. Plus, it can be downright fun for you both. Here are some of the best tried-and-true apps for teaching kids of all ages how to code.

Summer's around the corner, and the bugs are out in force. If you have an ant problem on your hands, cornmeal is a safe, surprisingly-effective way to get rid of them.

Inventor Nikola Tesla has certainly become one of the internet's darlings over the years. Part of the reason for that is because he managed to do a lot with his life. With that in mind, let's take a look at what was behind the brain that helped make Tesla so productive.

Feeling the summer heat yet? With wedding season and Father's Day coming up, June is a great month for deals. Here are the best things to buy this month.

As the parent of a preschooler, I often notice myself feeling frustrated and asking myself, “Why won’t she cooperate?!” If you have a young child at home, I know you understand. There are times when I’m tired or hungry or in a rush and I just want my daughter to do exactly as I say instantly without questioning, avoiding, or delaying.

Should you ever come across someone's lost driver's license, how would you go about getting it back to them? The answer is simpler than you might think.

Perhaps you hate typing passwords but want to keep your phone and computer secure. Thanks to Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, you can adapt your mobile devices to automatically unlock your computer, themselves, and even your front door by using a couple of apps and defining a few rules.

Dear Lifehacker,
My boyfriend is going to be moving in to my apartment soon. I've been living the single life for many years and I don't have much experience sharing bank accounts, living space, or things like that. What should we do to make living together easier?

View the original article here

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

This Week's Most Popular Posts: May 24th to 31st

This week we looked at the best paid apps around, kicked ourselves into healthier habits, built a do-anything home server, and learned about deodorant. Here's a look back.

Don't get us wrong: free apps are amazing, and we're awfully thankful for them. But sometimes, you get what you pay for, and a few bucks can get you a much better app that'll make your life so much easier. Here are 10 paid apps we think are well worth the price.

We all know our health is important, but we often neglect some of the little stuff that comes back to bite us later. Here are four of the simplest and cheapest things you can do now to make your future self happier and healthier.

Most people know that rolling t-shirts is the most efficient way to pack them into a suitcase, but not all shirt rolls are created equal. For a truly tight suitcase, you should master the military-style roll.

You've heard the word "server" thrown around a lot, but usually in the context of web sites or big companies that have a lot of data to store. In reality, a server can be just as useful in your home. In this guide, we'll walk through how to create your own home server out of an old or cheap computer that can do all your downloading, streaming, and backup tasks 24/7.

Dear Lifehacker,
When I go to the drug store, I see so many different types of deodorant. Putting aside the huge number of scents, many offer a variety of features as well. Some feature antiperspirants while others claim to block body odor better than others. Does it really matter which one I get?

When you're on the go and need a little extra power for a dying phone, a fading laptop, or a weary camera, carrying extra batteries is prudent, but it takes up space and you need one battery for every device. An external battery pack lets you carry one gadget that can charge up anything you plug it into. This week, we're checking out five of the best, based on your nominations.

If you don't know very much about beer, you probably can't make heads or tails of the expansive menu at your local beer garden. However, there are a few keywords, prefixes, and suffixes you can learn to get a better idea of what you're looking at.

Hard drives get messy. You save files and forget them, download huge chunks of data that pile up, and change your naming schemes a hundred times. It's spring, though, so why not do a little tidying up?

Dear Lifehacker,
I want to set up some basic home automation tasks but I've never done anything like this before. How do I get started? For that matter, what kind of things can I do and how much should I reasonably expect to pay?

We've all been there: you're away from home, you need to fix something, and you don't have access to any tools. With a little preparation, you can trick out your pockets with just about everything you need to provide a temporary repair no matter where you are. Here are a few ways to do just that.

Although not one of the DIY All Star materials, people use PVC pipe to create all sorts of awesome things because it's cheap, sturdy, and versatile. This weekend, grab some at your local hardware store and tackle one of these fun projects.

Finding a job is a challenge these days, but keeping one can be a challenge as well. US News describes eight simple mistakes you can make to ruin your professional reputation, from leaving a job to early to failing to keep your commitments. What mistakes have you made, or seen others made, that hurt their reputation and made it more difficult to get another job?

Think you might be stuck in a career rut? The good news is, career ruts are easy to spot. There’s that telltale sick feeling in your stomach every Monday morning, jealousy when a friend gets a new job that they’re excited about, and a tendency to quickly change the subject when someone asks you what you do for a living.