Yak Shaving Razor #109

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.

Online App -- Web site Sullr provides reverse phone number lookups using an AJAX interface and Google Maps mashup. If you're on your cell phone, you can point your mobile browser to wap.sullr.com for a mobile version. Sullr supports reverse lookups in the US, Germany, France, Italy, and Argentina, and currently only looks up listed land lines (like most reverse lookups). (HT: Lifehacker)

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Firefox Extension -- Use the Box.net Backup tool to save your favorite bookmarks online or to sync bookmarks between multiple computers.

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HowTo -- Set the "Perfect" iTunes equalizer setting

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Google School -- Google has updated its Advanced Search operator options to make it easier to search for pages by date. Use the Advanced Operator page to access a handy dropdown or use URL parameters like this:

• d[number] - past number of days (e.g.: d10)
• w[number] - past number of weeks
• y[number] - past number of years

(HT: Lifehacker)

°°°°°° Download of the Week -- Word Hyperlink Checker is a free MS Word tool for managing and checking hyperlinks in Word documents. Use this Microsoft Word add-in every time you need to check whether a link of your Word document is valid. With Word Hyperlink Checker you can quickly find suspicious and broken links in Microsoft Word documents of any size. It processes hundreds of hyperlinks in no time. (HT: Web Worker Daily) °°°°°°

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.