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 select all text between the current location of your cursor and the end of the current paragraph by hitting Ctrl + Shift and the down arrow. (HT: Web Worker Daily)
Online Tool -- Schedule free wake-up calls and reminders online with web site Wakerupper. Just enter the time and date you want your call, your timezone, phone number, email address, and an optional bit of reminder text that will be played text-to-speech style when you get the call. (HT: Lifehacker)
Google School -- Google has introduced a new app called Shared Stuff, a social bookmarking service offering a balance of Google Bookmarks, del.icio.us, and Google Reader shared feeds combined with Gmail integration. You can add items to your Shared Stuff with the bookmarklet at the Shared Stuff homepage. The service integrates with your Google account and Gmail contacts so that when you go to the Shared Stuff homepage you'll see shared stuff from your Gmail contacts.
In addition to the straight bookmarking aspect, the Shared Stuff bookmarklet also lets you email the page (from your Gmail account), and you can even use the bookmarklet to share or bookmark the page with a different service, from Digg and del.icio.us to Facebook and Furl. (HT: Lifehacker)
HowTo -- Increase Virtual Memory in XP
Online Tool -- GuerrillaMail is an anonymous web service that provides you with a temporary email address—perfect for web sites that you don't want to communicate with you but require email registration. Generate an email address and reload the home page to view any incoming messages. The 15-minute timer displays the amount of time you have remaining until your email address expires, but you can extend your time if necessary. (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.
You don't want to increase virtual memory! You want to turn it off entirely, if you don't need it! Get at least 1GB of RAM, and the average home user can safely afford to shut off virtual memory in Windows XP.
I wanted to research this subject and write a paper. Your post what a thousand words would not. Nice job.