Our technology life hacks

Hey guys,

for my final post this week on technology I’m sharing some posts I think might help you guys in your day to day use of technology.

My first life hack today is to help you in your searching for solutions to problems on Google. Although I never think to do it, it really can be this simple.

It’s that easy folks!

My next tip is to help you untangle the technology in your life.With every technological advance we make to our lives we acquire another unidentifiable black plug. To help tell whether you’re plugging out the DVD player or the sky box, the toaster or the fridge to charge your phone, try labeling the plugs as illustrated here with bread ties. This is especially handy if the wires you’re searching through are all under a desk as it speeds things up.

This is especially handy if the wires you’re searching through are all under a desk as it speeds things up and minimises the time on the floor with your butt in the air.

And finally, if technology is taking over your life in the wrong ways there’s now some software that might help you.

If Snapchat, Facebook or Twitter are constantly distracting you this program can block them for an amount of time that you determine.

That’s all from my blog for this week. As always, if you want to see the original website the life hacks came from just click on the images.

Toodles guys,

Lizzie

TED’s technology life hacks

Hey readers,

this week my posts are about technology. I’ve posted a few hacks on this topic before but I feel that, as it takes up such a large part of our lives, it’s worth another few posts.

My first post this week is actually a video from TED. If you haven’t heard of TED, they define themselves on their website as “a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading.” Through blogs, videos and conferences they share interesting and useful information about everything to everyone. They are well worth checking out.

This post is to share a video from their blog from a conference where David Pogue talks about 10 life hacks that can save you time.

The video is less than 6 minutes long but the way it’s presented is interesting.

If you’re not into watching videos, the main points of the talk  from here are listed below for your convenience.

1. Use the space bar to scroll down a page. Hold the shift key and the space bar at the same time to scroll back up again.
2. Tab between boxes on online forms. When there’s a pop-up menu to input details of your state, type the first letter of the state to scroll through options.
3. To make web text larger, press control +. Mac users, make that “Command +.”
4. Don’t bother with punctuation on your smartphone. Hit the space bar twice for a period and the next letter will be automatically capitalized.
5. Hit the call button on your phone to redial the last person you spoke to. No need to go into your contacts.
6. Speaking of phones, carriers have keystrokes that let you bypass the “15 seconds of fricking instructions, like we haven’t had answer machines for 45 years.” Sadly, each shortcut is different. “I didn’t say these were going to be perfect,” Pogue allows.
7. Use Google as a dictionary by typing “define” followed with the word you want to understand. You can also use it as an FAA database for flight details.
8. To highlight a word, don’t drag across it with the mouse. Double click it. And don’t bother deleting text; just type.
9. Avoid shutter lag by half pressing down the button of your camera before you take a picture. For folks who still use cameras.
10. Press “b” to black out a slide (or “w” to white it out). And make sure people are paying attention to your wonderful presentation.

Hope these helped and I’ll be continuing with this theme throughout the week. Tomorrow I’ll be blogging about some tricks for all students’ favourite pastime – watching films on your laptop.

Like always, all feedback is welcomed in the comments, and if you’d like a particular theme or type of life hack just let me know.

Toodles!!

Lizzie

Dessert life hacks

Hey folks,

the final life hack post for this week is in honour of my food-crazy brother, Francis, who’s off to college next year and won’t have mammy and sister to stuff endless treats down his neck. Here’s a few shortcuts for him and others in a similar situation in college.

My first dessert life hack is one Francis actually found himself and shared with me. It’s a recipe for the easiest loaf of bread you will ever make.

The reason this works is simple: ice cream is basically eggs, sugar, milk and cream. Add flour to the mix and you have a basic bread recipe. If you want to try something interesting try using mint or honeycomb ice cream for a sweet bread loaf.

And next is one of my favourite life hacks. In first year my friend Sorcha introduced me to these simple desserts – cakes in a mug. There’s a whole section of the internet dedicated to these phenomenons and their various flavours (it’s worth a Google) but this is my favourite.

The reason this works is the way the egg expands and firms up in the microwave. But be careful not to overfill the mug or the contents will spill out when you microwave the mixture.

And they’re my posts for this week. As always, the original sources of all life hacks in this blog can be found by clicking on the image and if you have any suggestions, questions, comments or tips please leave them below.

Toodles!!

Lizzie

Mid-term life hacks

Hey guys!!

So I’ve a few more life hacks to share today.

Firstly, here it is, the MOTHER of all student life hacks. Hate washing up? Can’t find a plate in the first place? This is for you.

When you’re done just roll up the tortilla and eat it. Winning all around.

My next hack for today is especially for those living in Manor here in Waterford or any student living in an apartment block. My biggest pet peeve when I use elevators is kids or my immature friends pressing EVERY SINGLE BUTTON as they get out. There aren’t enough dirty looks in the the world to give them as the door closes. Seriously, the longer I’m in there the more likely I’m going to get stuck or plummet to my death. Thankfully there’s this:

Your life might actually be saved by this. For realzies.

That’s it for this post but I’ll be posting again tomorrow.

As always the original links in all my pictures can be found by clicking on the pictures and comments, suggestions and feedback is always appreciated below.

Toodles!!

Lizzie

Hey students and other readers!!

We’re on midterm from college this week so I am without a theme, as such the plan at the moment is just to post some random and convenient life hacks and tips for your benefit. Hope you enjoy!!!

My first life hack is one I found while perusing one of my favourite sites, Imgur. If you want to change your Facebook news feed back to chronological order (newest post first) then check this out.

This next life hack is from Degree Escape. If you need to microwave two bowls or plates in the microwave but are having a tough time fitting them both just place one on top of an upturned mug and they’ll both fit.

And speaking of using a microwave, if you’re heating food leave a gap in the middle while you’re heating it. This will ensure the food is more evenly heated and the edges won’t dry out and turn to lava while the centre is still ice.

They’re my posts for today. In my next post I’ll be showing you a life hack of my own on how to get free music from iTunes as well as some other stuff.

As always, the original sources of all life hacks in this blog can be found by clicking on the image and if you have any suggestions, questions, comments or tips please leave them below.

Toodles!!

Lizzie

Halloween decorations on a budget!

As promised in the title (and previous posts) this post is all about how to decorate your home for Halloween on a budget. Thanks to pound shops, discount stores and the holy land of students – Dealz, decorating your home has never been more affordable. But if like me you like to add a few of your own touches then this is the post for you.

Today’s tips, hacks and pictures are a step up from suggestions like outlining your pumpkin design in marker first to make it easier to cut out or freezing a water-filled rubber glove to create ice in the shape of a hand for a punch bowl, but they are just as simple.

First, I’ll start with pumpkins. The easiest way to carve a pumpkin according to the Modern Parents Messy Kids website is to use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes.

You can use a hammer or mallet to get the cookie cutter through if you’re not strong enough to push it, but the thinner the pumpkin the easier it will be to get it through. Similarly, you could use the cutter as a guide to cut the shape out by pressing it firmly into the pumpkin skin and then use a knife to cut it out.

Also, if you’re afraid of the pumpkin rotting before Halloween then I found the solution for that too on the Discount Queens’ website. Bleach!!

Once your pumpkin has been carved simply soak it in a bucket or your sink, anywhere it can be fully submerged, and leave it there for 24 hours. The bleach prevents the growth of mold and preserves it for longer.

Next is a tip from the Plus Brain Power website for how to make some creepy candles. I love these, and again they’re something you can make with stuff you have lying around your house.

Simply get a red candle (birthday candles will work) and once its lit, drop the wax that melts onto a plain white candle. Insert nails, needles or sewing pins at angles to the sides of the white candle for added effect.

Don’t forget, the most important thing about decorating your house is to have fun. Play around with things you have lying around your house. I made some ghosts and cobwebs for my house using just white paper and knitting wool.

If you really want to go the whole hog, check out a simple recipe here on how to make these guys from jelly and straws.

If you need any further explanation on anything in this post, all the photos are links to the original websites so just click on them. 🙂 As always comments and suggestions appreciated.

Toodles guys!!

Lizzie

Love your body

Hey readers!!!

So Love Your Body week just ended in college, and as the week progressed it really dawned on me how important it is to love your body and take care of it inside and out. I’m changing my blog up a little bit today for the week that’s in it and sharing some of the information I discovered this week, as well as my usual life hacks and tips.

The idea that a lot of the concepts of beauty we aspire to are unachievable has been floating around for as long as I can remember. It used to be a female majority that felt the pressure but men feel it too as our culture holds appearance in such high regard. ‘Everything is airbrushed’, ‘make up works miracles’, ‘it’s all about lighting and poses’, are all the token phrases my friends banded about when I grew up. But as I’ve reached college I’ve realised how true these words were. Man or woman, no matter how hard we work we’ll often fall short of these ideals, in our own eyes at least. Hopefully some of the stuff i post today will help.

Below is a video from the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. It’s a warm reminder that just because you can’t see your outer beauty doesn’t mean it’s not there or that others don’t see it.

And just a quick hack for, if like me, smiling on command for pictures isn’t your thing.

That’s my post for today. I’ll be posting again over the weekend with a recipe the FABULOUS Susie Q entered into a college competition for Love Your Body week and came second with. It’s delicious!!!

And remember to LOVE YOUR BODY!! It’s the most amazing thing that will ever belong to you.

Toodles!!!

Lizzie

P.S. Don’t forget, no matter how you feel, there’s always tea.

FOODIE FOODIE FOOD

FOOOOOOOOOD

This week is Love Your Body week in college so I’m trying to tailor my blog posts to that.

This post is dedicated to food. I’m not going to lie – this won’t be the only post dedicated to food. Food’s pretty much my life.

So just two life hacks to kick us off. The first of which from Imgur basically directs you to the THE BEST WEBSITE EVER MADE.

I personally am the biggest fan ever of this site. I pretty much trawl Imgur every night and this is one of the best things I’ve ever picked up from it. It does exactly what it says on the tin, you basically go to the Supercook website and input the ingredients and VOILA – recipe. Majorly handy. Especially at the end of the week when you’re trying to clear a few things out of the fridge before they go out of date. LOVE IT.

My next life hack is also a favourite of mine from Pinterest. Part of Love Your Body week is teaching you to look after yourself and what’s more important for self- maintenance than fueling your engine? So sometimes an extra fifteen minutes in bed is more important than breakfast but with this life hack you only need seconds and you have delicious scrambled eggs. No mess no fuss.

This life hack is the whole hog, pretty much an omelette in a cup, but for an even easier breakfast, just  break an egg in a cup,  add milk if you’re that way inclined, whisk it with a fork and bung it in the microwave. Job done, scrambled egg made. No mess, no frying egg smell clinging to your clothes for the day and even healthier since there’s none of that oil or grease you get with frying. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

So get your day started properly with this simple breakfast life hack and check out that website when you don’t know what to make for dinner. You’ll waste half your night playing with that site, trust me.

As always, links to picture sources are available by clicking on the pictures. Comments, suggestions and feedback are appreciated in the comment section!!

Toodles guys!!

Lizzie

College student life – presenting your work

Hey readers!!

This post is kind of a follow-on from my post about research. In this post I provide a few tips on making a presentation and some shortcuts to help in typing up any reports.

Making a presentation

So presenting is pretty nerve wracking. I’m someone who has extreme anxiety, once cried in front of my class and once blurted out something overtly sexual mid-presentation, but with a little work I managed to get an A on my final 15 minute presentation last year. So when I say the key to giving a good presentation is preparation and practice I know what I’m talking about.

My first presentation tip comes from next year’s Great Irish Bake Off winner, scone maker extraordinaire, KEITH.

Keith gave me this helpful tip in advance of me giving a presentation myself and I have to say though at first I questioned it, I practiced using it and it’s pretty helpful. While presenting I never know what to do with my hands and often tug at my hair, clothes and jewellery, but pretending I’m balancing and offering sandwiches makes all the difference. So give it a go and remember the key to looking confident and professional is practicing your presentation aloud, figuring out your own physical quirks and resolving them.

My second tip is again along the lines of preparation.Preparing a question in advance, when Q and A is part of the presentation, helps you to appear knowledgeable in the area being discussed and it also takes some of the anxiety out of the situation.

Report writing

I’ve scoured the internet for keyboard shortcuts, like the one from my last post about pressing CTRL+Shift+T to reopen a closed tab as I got some feedback about it being very handy and the list of shortcuts below was my favourite.

This would be worth saving or printing for your convenience as it’s the most comprehensive list I found. Also their is another list that I posted from yesterday at http://www.matchmove.com/newsarticle/keyboard-shortcuts .

And my final tip for typing up reports is for if you’re copying and pasting something.

Obviously I’m not condoning or suggesting copying and pasting work and passing it off as your own, but this is useful for if you’re referencing and placing a large piece of material, i.e. a speech. It’s also useful if you’re moving text from Word to Powerpoint and want to avoid messing up the formatting.

That’s it for another post. If you want any of the original websites any of these pics came from just click on them and they should link you directly there.

As always, feed back and suggestions are welcomed in the comments, and I shall be posting again tomorrow.

Toodles readers 🙂

Lizzie

College student life – assignments

Sorry about the gap in posts but I’ve been ill and I lost the run of myself.

Today I’m doing a post on how to make researching a little bit easier for you.

Soooooooooo………… research.

1. We’ve all Googled random terms from the brief in our efforts to get the ball on research rolling. There is in fact a more effective way to search if you’re trying to come up with something related and worthy of referencing.

This was submitted to 1000 Life Hacks by Brian Regan (http://1000lifehacks.com/post/62456379453/submitted-by-brian-regan). I’ve used this myself and it is in fact much more useful. It has all the scholarly attributes of the other dedicated databases but retains all the simplicity and familiarity of Google. And most importantly it’s all relevant results (no more links to bands called ‘Principles of Marketing’).

2. If you find yourself looking up definitions a lot as well and you use Chrome it may be worth adding the Google Dictionary extension from here . This extension displays definitions by simply double clicking on a word in the browser.

3. FINALLY, found a relevant article to your assignment after getting all the way to the bottom of the first page of Google results? Success!! Accidentally closed the tab and ruined your entire life? Well it’s a good thing you remember the life hack below then isn’t it.

(http://www.matchmove.com/newsarticle/keyboard-shortcuts)

This will open the last tab you closed. Need a tab you closed three tabs ago? Just do it three times. It’ll open the tabs in reverse order that they were closed.

Hopefully this will make the whole process that bit easier. My next post has tips on presenting and writing up assignments as that’s pretty much what’s in the air this week.

As always I’d love feedback, requests or comments so just leave them below.

Toodles 🙂

Lizzie