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.
MS Word Tip -- You can circumvent the multi-step process of cutting, pasting and deleting to move paragraphs with an easy paragraph hopping feature: Go into a document with several paragraphs and put your cursor at the beginning of one of the middle paragraphs. Hold down the Shift and Alt keys in unison, then use the up and down arrow keys to "hop" the paragraph to new positions in the document. (HT: Web Worker Daily)
Google School -- Need to find a photo of a person? When using Google Image Search add &imgtype=face to the picture search string. Only photos with faces will show up, making it easier to find the picture you need. (HT: Lifehacker)
HowTo -- Open a Door With a Credit Card
HowTo -- Quickly Fold a T-Shirt
Download of the Week -- PhotoWipe is a freeware program that removes unwanted objects from your digital pictures. Using PhotoWipe is simple: open the picture you want to process, paint over the object you want to remove, then let PhotoWipe remove the obstruction and fill in the blanks. (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.
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