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.

#730 Podcast/Phone Hack -- Have some free minutes on your cell phone plan? Put them to use listening to podcasts. Online service Earkive lets you listen to podcasts it has aggregated by dialing 1.646.401.0940 and a four-digit podcast ID. (HT: Lifehacker)

#731 Firefox Shortcut -- Accidently close a tab in Firefox? Just use Ctrl-Shift-T (Cmd-Shift-T for Mac users) to reopen the last closed tab.

#732 Google School -- If you want to get general background on something with Google, append the word "info" or "information" to your search term. If your words appear in the title of a Wikipedia page, Google will list that article at the top of your results, for a convenient way to search both Google and the Wikipedia at once. (HT: Lifehacker)

#733 HowTo -- Avoid 35 Most Outragious Fees

#734 Download of the Week -- (BlackBerry only) Shop right on your BlackBerry with Digby, a new applet that lets you buy products from a variety of stores. Digby's current roster of stores includes Amazon, Godiva, FTD and Vermont Teddy Bear. The applet leverages stored information, such as addresses for you and your gift recipients, so you don't have to re-enter it. (HT: Lifehacker)

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.