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Ask HN: Little hacks that make your life easier?
Everyone has those own little workarounds that make life easier.
Here are a couple of mine -
1. Using AutoHotKey to write my signatures, frequently used expressions (ex: plm becomes "Please let me know if you need some more information." , answers to frequently asked queries by customers, open specific files with a keyboard shortcut)
2. Using IFTTT : This tool helps a lot. One of the ways I use it is to save my monthly utility bills (arriving in Gmail) automatically every month direct in my chartered accountant's shared dropbox folder. That email in turn is auto archived, so such bills are completely out of my way.
What are your time saving hacks that you use frequently?
- Mizza 12y agoag. I use this tool between 50 and 100 times a day. https://github.com/ggreer/the_silver_searcher https://github.com/ggreer/the_silver_searcher
- jasonlotito 12y agoHow does it compare to just using git grep?
- jeffreyrogers 12y agoIt works outside of git repositories and is faster than grep or awk.
- ics 12y agoEspecially helpful in emacs with projectile (which has a function projectile-ag). Create a quick binding to locate all the FIXMES and feel free to experiment. Maybe it should also open file and mark the lines in a new frame for ultimate bug squashing...
- jaredmcateer 12y agoIt's noticeably faster than grep but I would say, in my experience anyways, only academically faster than ack. Both are so fast I can't really notice a difference when scanning my massive codebase.
- ivan_ah 12y agoThe Mac OS text-to-speech tool is awesome for proofreading. Another use for it is to be read blog posts to while doing the dishes and making coffee.
- jeffreyrogers 12y agoYou can also use it from the terminal with the `say` command, e.g. `say -f myfile.txt`
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- philip1209 12y agoCreate a public link to your availability from google calendar and share it with people to decrease the time it takes to schedule meetings.
- notduncansmith 12y agoA Mac app called Alfred has saved me countless hours. It comes with a clipboard manager (extremely useful), and the ability to create custom workflows/hotkeys, which I use to switch back and forth between Skype, Chrome, and Sublime. iTerm2 already has a hotkey feature built in, but if it didn't I'd have made one (takes <30 seconds). Following Gary Bernhardt's advice, mapping Caps Lock to a modifier key (he recommends Control I think, I mapped it to Alt) has been awesome. Aliasing common Git commands to 2-3 letter commands has been nice. gc -> git commit, gaa -> git add --all, gpom -> git push origin master, etc. Vimium for Chrome is nice if you're used to Vim keybindings for navigating. hop is a command-line tool for jumping to directories (or SSH'ing into servers). Immensely valuable.
- philip1209 12y agoWe have an internal wiki page with custom alfred formulas for our company. "customer <email>" "domain <domain>" "logs <logs>"" It makes life for engineers, support, and sales much more efficient.
- notduncansmith 12y agoI wish there were enough Mac users at our company to make this worthwhile. Is your whole team on OS X?
- philip1209 12y agoNo, but in general company laptops are macbooks. They play nicely with virtualized operating systems, SSHing into *nix servers, windows via bootcamp, etc. The Alfred formulas are shared more out of courtesy than a company need.
- alialkhatib 12y agoI actually feel like Vimium is nice even if you're not familiar with Vim. Or that was my experience. And when I later made a conscious effort to learn Vim's commands and use it more frequently, the navigation controls I had learned in Vimium made the learning curve less steep than I think it typically is for people first starting out.
- thatswrong0 12y agoWhen I'm paying with a card I hold my wallet until I get my card back. I wrote myself a script and have my dot files on github to make setting up a new machine quicker. Tons of gmail filters. Ian's knot to tie my shoes (I know, doesn't really save time, I think there's an XKCD that shows the break even point on time investments like that). Aliases like 'helpme' that remind me of some Git commands I always forget. Brush my teeth while peeing. Yeah, mostly stupid little things.
- saurabh 12y agoThanks, I missed that XKCD. http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1205:_Is_It_Worth_the_Time%3F http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1205:_Is_It_Worth_...
- freditup 12y agoI like these tips: - Holding your wallet also helps you be sure to put the card back in your wallet and not someplace else. - I think everyone agrees that the dotfiles one is useful - I personally need a better shoelace know as opposed to a faster one haha, but always fan of when people are willing to do something unconventionally and better
- myhf 12y agoecho 127.0.0.1 news.ycombinator.com >> /etc/hosts
- grimtrigger 12y agoWhats this do?
- TeMPOraL 12y agoEasily increases your productivity by factor of 2-4.
- notduncansmith 12y agoOn a busy news day, probably closer to 8 for me. Seriously. It can be a real problem. I actually took the plunge and did this for a while, and now I feel I've built up enough self-control to not need it. The difference has been amazing.
- pizza 12y agoBlocks HN by re-routing requests to HN to localhost
- m3mnoch 12y agoweird. i think he's gone. i guess we'll never find out what it does now.
- yamaneko 12y agoFor those using Windows, the file is C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts.
- pennies 12y agoEvery time a penny passes through your hands, stick it up your ass and then spend it. It’s a long-term strategy. I’ve been doing this for 11 years now. Every day for the past 11 years, I’ve stuck $30 dollars in pennies up my ass. I use them for everything: cab rides, movie theaters, groceries. That’s a lot of ass pennies I’ve got out there, my friend. And here’s where the magic comes in: When I meet with someone who intimidates me, who put me on edge, a real hard-ass, I just think to myself, "They’ve probably handled one of my ass pennies." In fact they probably have one in their pocket right then. That just seems to give me the upper hand. I mean, hey, I haven’t touched anything that was in their ass.
- joncrocks 12y agoNever underestimate the power of ass pennies.
- saurabh 12y ago1. Synergy I use Synergy to use my netbook's keyboard and touchpad for my workstation. I just zoom everything up on the workstation and lay back on the bed and code. Very cool. Bash alias on both systems is "synergize" The next thing that I am going to do is switch the server and client roles automatically so that when I am using the workstation I would be able to control my netbook. 2. Tmux I ssh to the workstation from my netbook and attach to a running Tmux session. Feels like working locally. 3. Redshift Decrease brightness in the evening, I have a bash alias called "soothing" which does the job. 4. Wake on Lan Start the workstation in the bedroom if I am in another room. Bash alias "wakywaky" 5. Map Caps Lock to Esc Just do it. Useful if you are a vimmer. 6. Vimium Useful if you are a vimmer. 7. A simple text file to track TODO's with vim Vim makes it super easy to track TODO items. No plugin required. You can move around and makes changes quite fast.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- sciurus 12y agoRelated to #7, I use a shell alias to open vim with three splits: alias wl="vim -o $HOME/worklog/{todo,progress,done}" Tasks flow down the splits. If you'd prefer tasks to go left-to-right, use `-O`.
- saurabh 12y agoNice. I am stealing this. I have the leader mapped to <Space>. And I move around splits and tabs using this. "New horizontal split nmap <leader>s :split<CR> "New vertical split nmap <leader>v :vsplit<CR> "New tab nmap <leader>t :tabe<CR> "Easy close nmap <leader>q :q<CR> " Split navigation nmap <leader>j <C-W>j nmap <leader>k <C-W>k nmap <leader>h <C-W>h nmap <leader>l <C-W>l "Tabs like Vimium noremap <S-j> :tabprevious<CR> noremap <S-k> :tabnext<CR>
- ejstronge 12y agoYou should check out `:help CTRL-W_v` and most of `:help opening-window` in general; the first few of your shortcuts are already in Vim by default. I had similar shortcuts until a serendipitous trip into the help docs.
- thomasvarney723 12y agoI can't recommend LastPass enough. Also, PIA for VPN. I put a little cash and my credit card in my phone case so that I have only one thing to carry and always have money on me. I really liked f.lux when I used windows, if only I had a decent replacement for ChromeOS.
- tokenizerrr 12y agoI really want to like LastPass, but I can't get over all of my passwords being stored on someone elses server. Doesn't that seem like a terrible security risk?
- berberous 12y agoWell, this scares me: http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/11/lastpass-finds-security-holes-in-its-online-password-manager-doesnt-think-anyone-exploited-them/ http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/11/lastpass-finds-security-hol... http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/07/severe-password-manager-attacks-steal-digital-keys-and-data-en-masse/ http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/07/severe-password-mana...
- PeterWhittaker 12y agoThe LastPass vulnerabilities affected only bookmarklets (used by less than 1% of LP users, according to LP) and OTPs (no estimates for use). I've been using LP for over a year, didn't know either feature existed until the disclosure: I use it strictly for its main capability, encrypted and unique site passwords.
- nacs 12y agoThe data is decrypted client side only. The server only stores an encrypted version that you send via SSL.
- dblandin 12y agoI'm a big fan of KeyPassX which you use can easily store locally or sync via Dropbox.
- 12y ago
- LVB 12y agoMy shirt rack has three "zones". Clean clothes go in zone 1. When I take out a shirt, I put a special color hanger in its place. At night I hang up my shirt in the next zone, or chuck it in the hamper as appropriate. My memory for little stuff sucks, so this makes it easy to wear each one three times.
- kareemm 12y agoIf I need to take something with me out of the house that I don't normally take (i.e. NOT my laptop bag, keys, etc), I leave it on the floor beside the door out of my apartment. Which means I can't help but look at it when walking out the door.
- notduncansmith 12y agoMy fiancee used to think I was nuts for doing this! This entire thread has really helped validate a lot of my personal habits. Thanks, HN.
- tshaddox 12y agoA common one, but undeniably useful: find a type of sock you like, buy a bunch of them, then throw out or donate your old ones. Then never sort those socks again.
- dgemm 12y agoNever even fold socks again. Pull out two and they always match!
- reubenpressman 12y agoI've done this with all of my shirts, pants/shorts, and briefs as well.
- MadMoogle 12y agoHave you ever had an issue with people asking why you wear the same shirt all week?
- sjs382 12y agoI do this once per year or so. I call it "sock bankruptcy". I've also started doing this more recently with undershirts, underwear, etc.
- elnate 12y agoResealable sandwich bags. I use them to portion food, either raw or cooked, and freeze. It means even if I'm working 50+ hours this week I can cook a couple of meals on Sunday and be sorted for the week. It also means that, since I live communally but cook by myself, I don't have to eat the same meal for four days in a row.
- philip1209 12y agoI use ball jars. They are reusable, they basically never spill during transit, and they fulfill multiple other roles.
- conductr 12y agoMy credit card details are saved in my Gmail account because when I want to buy something online my wallet is usually in another room I feel the risk is low, I trust google enough and there's really no risk as a cardholder anyway
- bkjelden 12y agoI am terrible at remembering things, so for parts of my daily routine, I will just remember the number of things I need to grab/do, rather than the things themselves. For example, there are 9 things I need to put in my gym bag when I pack it before going to the gym/work. Remembering that there are 9 things is much easier for me than remembering that list of 9 things, so I can just count as I'm packing and know when I'm done, and the probability of something foreign getting in is very low (although I have on occasion packed two pairs of socks instead of socks + underwear - never a fun way to start the day). Or another example - I need 4 things in my pockets before I leave for work - keys, wallet, phone, work badge. The count of 4 is way easier for me to remember than the 4 things themselves.
- reubenpressman 12y agoWhy wouldn't you just keep a list in your bag?
- ryandvm 12y agoI don't use deodorant. At all. I haven't for about two years now. And I guarantee you that I have less underarm smell than you. Every morning I splash a squirt of rubbing alcohol under each arm. No smell, no white powder, no creepy aluminum salts.
- edoceo 12y agoSame, sans alcohol
- mistermann 12y ago> no creepy aluminum salts As someone who's used them for probably a decade now, I wonder what you think is creepy about them? Also, I've read about some rubbing alcohols not being safe for long term use, have you heard this, and what have you settled on?
- steanne 12y agopossibly alzheimer's disease. ...or maybe not. http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/guide/controversial-claims-risk-factors http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/guide/controversial-claims-r...
- MadMoogle 12y agoSame, except I use an alum block instead of alcohol. I also don't use shampoo, conditioner or soap on my body. I shower daily with cold(ish) water and only water.
- elementai 12y agoAlcohol damages skin in the long term, there are a lot of safer antiseptic options.
- dmishe 12y agoand why is this better?
- 31reasons 12y agoWork from home if possible.
- rushi_agrawal 12y agoAs someone who use git quite a lot, I have created a TON of aliases for it, so that I have to type very less. Sometimes, I have created bash functions as it needs to handle some logic too. For example: gl (git log), gb (git branch), gr (git remote -v), gpom (git push origin master), gpuom (git pull origin master), gcam (git commit -a -m), gcaa (git commit --amend -a), gc <github-ID>/<repository> (git checkout -b https://github.com/$1 https://github.com/$1), etc
- rushi_agrawal 12y agoI've very recently started adding all of it to a github repo. Very early version, but can be found at https://github.com/rushiagr/myutils/blob/master/aliasrc https://github.com/rushiagr/myutils/blob/master/aliasrc
- attilagyongyosi 12y agoThis is exactly what I did when we started our current project at work, on which we use Git. I also made aliases gl, gr, gb. gc means 'git commit -m' for me, and I have gco for 'git checkout', gcb for 'git checkout -b', gpod for 'git push origin develop' and gpud for 'git push upstream develop'. Made my life so much easier. :)
- xcdz 12y agoGet a dressing gown/robe if you want to be warm at night but don't want to sleep with heavy clothing, and want to be decent if someone knocks at the door. Sounds obvious, but I never realized how useful it is.
- MadMoogle 12y agoInstead of keeping squishy balls at my desk, I have something that resembles Thor's hammer, except it's weighted. I play with it idly during the day[0], which helps strengthen my grip and forearms. I started doing this when my hands started to show signs of RSD. Haven't had an issue with it since. [0] I don't swing it, as I'm too worried about accidentally hitting somebody.
- Moemars 12y agoStopped shampooing and conditioning hair (they either have chemicals, are expensive or smell terrible). My showers take 5 minutes. Saves time, water and hydrates your skin.
- amorphous 12y agocollapsable comments for HN