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.

#760 Finance Hack -- CNN Money offers a simple financial calculator called The Prioritizer, which pits your financial goals against one another in pairs to determine what's most important to you. (HT: Lifehacker)

#761 Gmail Hack -- DragDropUpload is a handy extension lets you quickly attach one or more files to your emails by dragging them over the “Attach a file” link. (HT: MakeUseOf.com)

#762 Firefox Extension -- The Flashblock extension by default blocks flash from playing when a Web page is first opened. Most (distracting) advertisements are written using flash. Flashblock is particularly useful because it replaces the flash from a Web site with a “play” button so you can watch the flash if it something useful (like a video at Youtube) and leave it blocked if it is an advertisement. (HT: Lifehacker)

#763 HowTo -- Make children's furniture out of cardboard

#764 Online Tool -- xFruits is a handy online app that can "teach your RSS feeds new tricks." You can create a PDF file from an RSS feed, change email to RSS, RSS to email, and much more. (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.