Home decor design tips

Normal Room is a Web site that lets users submit images of various rooms in their homes. Normal Room has amassed a large collection of designs from countries around the world. I think this is really unique and great resource if you are thinking of redecorating, building a home, setting up your office or studio, or just looking for ideas on how to make your workspace more productive. An interesting observation is the impact children have on the rooms.

Normal Room shows you interior design and home furniture from all around the globe. Search our image database and explore the differences and similarities in architecture and home decoration between people in different countries.

source [lifehack.org]

Fix your LCD’s stuck pixels

JScreenFix is designed to fix your LCD’s stuck pixels by quickly switching red, green, and blue colors on your monitor.

JScreenFix makes this high-contrast pixel un-sticker available in as many ways as possible so you can use it on your computer, your mobile device, and your DVD player, depending on where your pixels need un-sticking. Keep in mind the difference between a dead pixel and a stuck pixel: A stuck pixel will generally be fixed at red, green, blue, or any combination of those three colors; if a pixel is dead, it shows up as black, and fixing it requires another method altogether. JScreenFix also claims to help fix burn-in on plasma screens.

source [lifehacker]

How to set up dual monitors

Tech mag PC World has a video demonstrating how to install and configure a dual-monitor setup.

The video shows how to upgrade your graphics card (which may or may not be necessary), identifies the difference between analog and digital connectors and explains when you might need to use an adapter. It also wisely suggests backing up your PC before getting started.

We’ve long been proponents of the productivity gains afforded by dual monitors, and this video offers a good introduction to this essential upgrade.

How to Set Up Multiple Monitors [PC World]

 

source [lifehacker]

How to tie a tie

Free Template – Household Notebook

A site OrganizedHome has released a bunch of free template pages for managing different aspects in household.

The idea is to print out what you needs, put them into a binder and compose a customize Household Notebook to put your family in order.

I think another idea without going all the way is to print out what you need, and stick them onto the fridge. The creative is what you need to make this effective.

The template pages cover different areas, such as to-do, phone, family and school, home management, meals and menus, money and finance, health and fitness, and travel and activities:

Unlike a personal planner, which is designed for use by one person, a household notebook or family organizer serves as “command central” for an entire family. While each family’s organizer will be unique, most are simple three-ring notebooks with several divider sections.

Most household notebooks include a telephone and message section, a divider for church, clubs or volunteer activities, travel, home management and finance sections, medical information, and personal records like gift list and clothing size charts.

Because they’re infinitely expandable, household notebooks become as distinctive as the family that uses them. A family with school-aged children involved in dance, music and sports will include organizer sections for rehearsal and practice schedules, summer activity ideas and video to-rent lists. A two-career couple with pre-school children may add babysitter and day care dividers and an emergency telephone list to their household notebook. Empty nesters will rely on packing checklists for vacations, home repair records and gift suggestion lists for far-flung children.

OrganizedHome Templates: Household Notebook – [OrganizedHome]

source [lifehack.org]

Schedule a wake up call with Skype

Web site Mac OS X Hints has posted an interesting shell script designed to let you set wake up calls and reminders from Skype to your cell phone; Lifehacker reader Debashis also suggests using a batch script with the following command for Windows users:

"c:\Program Files\Skype\Phone\skype.exe /callto:001xxxxxxxxxx"

I’m a big fan of the phone call/page as reminder, but I’ve been using Google Calendar for that functionality because, frankly, I love Google Calendar. However, if you don’t, and limited alarms on your phone mean that you can’t set up as many reminders as you’d like, these little Skype reminder scripts could offer a simple way to schedule quick wake up calls and reminders. Thanks Debashis! — Adam Pash

A shell script to use Skype for reminder calls [Mac OS X Hints]

source [lifehacker]

How to take good nighttime photos

Nighttime photography can be tricky, but computing blogger Andrew Malek has some excellent digital photography tips to make it simpler.

Topics such as setting, preparation, and lighting are all covered in this two-part article, with language basic enough that even this point and click girl could understand.

Take Spectacular Nighttime Photos with your Digital Camera

source [lifehacker]

Stop Telemarketers

Most Telemarketers use what is called Predictive Dialers, which are PCs with software that dials ever number in a phone exchange until it gets lucky. Now you can use their own technology against them, and it's legal. Here is how their system works: the dialer calls your number, you answer, and you have probably notice the line appears dead after you said, "Hello". What their computer is doing is listening for a short burst of audio, your "Hello", followed by a period of silence. With this heard, it will log your phone number as valid and transfer the call to an available telemarketer, the reason for the delay before someone comes on line.

Now, if their computer receives a long audio burst (an answering machine) " Hello, this is Alan Carlton", then it will disconnect, but it will log you phone number as valid, for a later call-back. Oh Lovely! Some are even capable of detecting Fax tones and will even transmit a fax trying to sell selling something you're probably are not interested in. However, do not answer, or when you do answer the phone, or if fax tones are detected, or if it detects an answering machine, in all four (4) cases, it logs your number as a good phone number for future call-back – plus the company is also selling these verified valid numbers list to other telemarketers.

A simple way to stay off the list is to use their own technology against them.

The predictive dialer's software also looks for non-valid phone numbers, and there is a simple way you can make your phone number appear invalid to the telemarketers’ computers, thus they do not call back and accumulate no database, at least with your number, to sell other Telemarketers.

Here is how to do it: If you call a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service you will hear 3 short tones, "doo…dah…dee", thanks to Ma-Bell. The actual frequency of these tones are 985.2 Hz, 1370.6 Hz, and 1776.7 Hz. Guess what the telemarketers’ software does when it detects these 3 tones at the beginning of your outgoing message? It thinks it has reached a line that is disconnected or is no longer in service. So, it disconnects and does not log your phone number as a working number. BINGO!

NOW record these onto you outgoing message or voice mail announcement, and start exterminating telemarketers. Try this example, but use your own name, "doo…dah…dee, Hello, This is Alan Carlton". It must be at the beginning of your announcement to work. You may have to explain it to you friends, but they will soon have it on theirs’ too.

FCC approved as perfectly legal……. doo-dah-dee.wav (44KB)

source post [no telemarket]

HOW TO DETECT A 2-WAY MIRROR

When we visit bathrooms, hotel rooms, changing rooms, etc., how many of you know for sure that the seemingly ordinary mirror hanging on the wall is a real mirror, or actually a 2-way mirror (i.e. they can see you, but you can't see them)?

There have been many cases of people installing 2-way mirrors in female changing rooms. It is very difficult to positively identify the surface by just looking at it. It's time to get paranoid. So, how do we determine with any amount of certainty? Just conduct this simple test:

Place the tip of your fingernail against the reflective surface and if there is a GAP between your fingernail and the image of the nail, then it is a GENUINE mirror. However, if your fingernail DIRECTLY TOUCHES the image of your nail, then BEWARE, for it is a 2-way mirror!

So if not at home and changing before a mirror, do the "fingernail test". It doesn't cost you anything. It is simple to do, and it might save you from getting "visually raped"!

source post and more… [comments by Peter Kohler]