February 7, 2006

Yak Shaving Razor #39


Yak Shaving -- [MIT AI Lab, after 2000: orig. probably from a Ren & Stimpy episode.] Any seemingly pointless activity which is actually necessary to solve a problem which solves a problem which, several levels of recursion later, solves the real problem you're working on.


#380 Firefox Hack -- The Grocery List Generator is a helpful little tool to store your recipe-ingredients and other groceries you need regularly. It creates a well-organized grocery list to help make your grocery shopping as easy as possible.

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#381 Online Utility -- You paid the electric bill, one of your roommates bought groceries, and a third needs to settle up with both of you. Keep track of these types of exchanges using the free expenses sharing calculator iOWEYOU. iOWEYOU works by allowing you to log all these purchases, even down to the smallest expenses. Whenever you want to pay someone back, you click 'View Amount Owed' and get told very quickly how much you owe. (HT: LifeHacker)

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#382 Google School -- Narrow the context of your Google search by subtracting words from your results using the minus sign. For example to find the dip rather than the dance, use: salsa -dance Or to find the illness that affects only humans: virus -computer (HT: LifeHacker)
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#383 Know Your Fallacies -- Poisoning the well -- a logical fallacy where adverse information about someone is pre-emptively presented to an audience, with the intention of discrediting or ridiculing everything that person is about to say. Poisoning the well is a special case of argumentum ad hominem. (Example: "Don't listen to what he says, he's a lawyer.")

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#384 Dollar Hack -- Need to make a rough measurement but don't have a ruler? Use a dollar bill, which is slightly more than 6" or fold it in half for a 3" measure. (HT: LifeHacker)

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#385 HowTo -- Rip DVD Movies To Your iPod
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#386 Cell Phone Hack -- Wired magazine provides a detailed explanation for creating your own ring tones using free audio editor Audacity. If that's too much trouble, web service SmashTheTONES lets you send any MP3 music file to your phone to download and use as a ringtone for free. (HT: LifeHacker)

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#387 SoYouWanna -- Give a massage.

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#388 First Aid Hack -- Instead of using an ice pack, partially fill a strong zip lock bag with liquid dishwashing detergent and freeze it. The detergent stays cold much longer, molds to your body better than ice, and can be re-frozen for multiple applications. (HT: LifeHacker)

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#389 Writer's Toolkit -- #31: Parallel Lines
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See also: The Yak Shaving Razor Archives Have a useful recommendation for making life more pleasant? Send them to me at jpcarter[at]evangelicaloutpost.com.

comments
rdsmith3 (Bob) writes:

1

re: #388

A bag of frozen peas makes a great ice pack. It is inexpensive, re-usable, and it molds to your body. It is also edible, in times of extreme hunger.

posted on 02.08.2006 9:05 AM
jamal writes:

2

some nice bits and peices you got here!

posted on 02.10.2006 3:31 PM