If you’ve got a ding, dent, or busted up fender you want to get repair estimates for, web site DentBetty gets you repair estimates based on damage photos you submit. More »
Blog Archives
DentBetty Generates Car Repair Estimates from Damage Photos [Cars]
Posted on September 30, 2010
How to Spend Less Time in Line at the Airport [Airport]
Posted on September 16, 2010
Airport security lines are a great place to meet federal employees, check out the newest shoe fashions, and—if you're a lawyer—bill by the hour. But otherwise, they're no fun. Here are several strategies for minimizing your time in line. More »
Watch a Demonstration of the World’s Fastest Shoelace Knot [Knots]
Posted on September 13, 2010
The time-saving technique of crossing two loops known as Ian’s Knot gets the video treatment it deserves through a Sprint promotion. Whether you “Save four days of your life” depends on how adaptable your fingers are to this speedy knot. More »
Scan or Photograph Checks for Deposit at These Banks [Banks]
Posted on August 9, 2010
Depositing checks probably feels like the last stand of paper for savvy online bankers. Switch to one of the banks accepting check deposits via scanner, iPhone, or Android, and you’ll never have to wait in ATM or teller lines again. More »
Resume Interrupted Downloads with BitTorrent [Shortcuts]
Posted on July 29, 2010
FreeMyPDF Liberates Your PDF File from Printing and Other Restrictions [PDFs]
Posted on December 4, 2009
You’ve got a PDF file on your hands that you really need to print, copy, or otherwise edit but it’s locked down like Fort Knox. You’re out of luck, unless you use a service like FreeMyPDF.
A few years ago, I would have killed for a simple service like FreeMyPDF. Countless times people within my company would send me PDF files that had all sorts of unnecessary protections which frequently made it impossible for me to work with them the way they requested: “Hey can you print that off and bring it to the meeting?” “You locked it down with a password. I can’t print it.” “Oh really? Huh. I dunno what the password is.”
FreeMyPDF helps you deal with situations like that. Upload the file to FreeMyPDF and passwords and restrictions are stripped from the file before it is returned to you. It should be noted however that the process only works for files you are able to view—files which you need a password to even view can't be unprotected by FreeMyPDF.
Have a tool for solving your PDF-related headaches? Let’s hear about it in the comments.
Maggwire Offers Hundreds of Magazines for Free Online Reading [Magazines]
Posted on November 7, 2009
If you missed out on the free periodical fun with the now-defunct Mygazines, you can get your fill of free magazine reading online with Maggwire.
Unlike Mygazines, which ran into trouble by being the host of hundreds of magazines, Maggwire decides to take the road that involves fewer legal beatings by serving as a nice index to legitimate web presences of hundreds of magazines. Frankly this seems like a much better situation to be in, since it was novel, but not exactly efficient, to read scanned magazines online in the method employed by Mygazines.
While browsing Maggwire you can see article summaries, ratings, and whether or not anyone has commented on the article. When it comes time to actually read the article, you'll be sent to the actual publisher's website. Maggwire makes it easy to quickly find interesting articles from major publishers and magazines without the hassle of visiting individual sites—which many of us never quite get around to doing.
Check out Maggwire at the link below and if you have a favorite way for keeping an eye on your reading list of magazines, let’s hear it in the comments.
Ninite Bulk-Installs Great Free Windows Apps [Installation]
Posted on October 23, 2009
Windows: If you’re upgrading to Windows 7 from XP, you’ll spend a lot of time grabbing installers and Next-Next-Next-clicking through setup wizards. Unless you use Ninite to check off the best free software and install it all at once.
This post can be fairly short because Ninite works exactly as advertised. Head to Ninite's web site, check off the free downloads you want from each category, grab the custom installer download that it serves up, and run it. Ninite runs through each installation with an absolute minimum of pop-up questions—none of them, in face, with most installs—and then it's done.
The selection is pretty great, too, with many of the must-have apps we’ve fawned over in the past like VLC, Audacity, IrfanView, Paint.Net, uTorrent, and many more. In fact, Ninite offers the majority of our 2009 Lifehacker Pack, give or take a few recommendations.
Ninite’s installers are free downloads for Windows systems only. Thanks Josh!
Use Escalation to Move Customer Service Issues Along [Customer Service]
Posted on August 5, 2009
No, we’re not talking about moving from politely asking to screaming. But when you keep hitting the same dead end with a customer service complaint, Consumerist suggests a routine for getting your questions further up the chain.
The tips come from an AT&T representative and were spurred from a specific complaint about double charging, but they're a nice reinforcement and specific example of being a better customer to get better service.
Our reps are trained that escalation is part of the process, and they are explicitly instructed to escalate every time it’s requested.
Each time you call, make note of the rep’s name and the time and date you call. If you ask to be connected to a supervisor and you are not connected, hang up and call back in, THEN IMMEDIATELY ask to speak to a supervisor. We want to know when our protocol isn’t followed, and we want to resolve your issue.
Being careful not to sound too rude is important, as angered employees are likely to leave angry notes. But procedures and elevation requests are good reinforcement to keep in mind when trying to solve a matter over the phone.
Fonolo Records Customer Service Calls for You [Customer Service]
Posted on July 14, 2009
Fonolo, the previously mentioned webapp that phones directly to the right spot in a customer service phone tree, added another killer pro-customer feature: One-click call recording, right from the spot where you jump into the “Press 1 for X” fray.
Fonolo’s basic functionality is still the same. Find the company you’re calling from among the roughly 500 supported, then browse through a tabbed phone tree listing of all the options, with the voice prompts transcribed for easy navigation. Click on the prompt you want to jump to, enter your phone number (unless you’re logged in with a number stored in an account), then wait for Fonolo to dial in and get to that point, at which point it calls you to connect. From the Fonolo web page, you can hit “Start Call Recording,” or the microphone in the upper-right corner, and your discussion about that mysterious charge is noted for your dispute-settling convenience.
Having a record of everything that goes down in a customer service call is one of the surest ways of getting better customer service, and the playback and download functions are made easy enough in your account page at Fonolo.
Fonolo is a free service, requires a sign-up to save recordings and automate phone number connections. It’s also available as a free application for Anrdoid phones.