Yes, I don't think I've seen such a thread since...well, I don't think I've ever seen it, actually. So it's pretty much time, I'd say. So, let me start:
The reason I wanted to post this thread is because I found this video
THIS GUY IS A MESSIAH! I had my left ear blocked since yesterday. It happened last week, too, and it lasted for several days. It's seriously annoying. This trick is just amazing - tl;dw version: get a bottle and a pen, make a hole in the cap of the bottle and put the tube from the pen through it. Fill with warm water, pour it in your ear. Worked like a charm for me. (note: don't try it if you have an ear infection or what's called a "swimmer's ear")
Other stuff
Some of these you may know already, others you might not. but that's what I remember right now, I'll try to add more.
The reason I wanted to post this thread is because I found this video
THIS GUY IS A MESSIAH! I had my left ear blocked since yesterday. It happened last week, too, and it lasted for several days. It's seriously annoying. This trick is just amazing - tl;dw version: get a bottle and a pen, make a hole in the cap of the bottle and put the tube from the pen through it. Fill with warm water, pour it in your ear. Worked like a charm for me. (note: don't try it if you have an ear infection or what's called a "swimmer's ear")
Other stuff
Ants in the house
Last year we had a problem in my house - ants. They were getting in from outside and all over the kitchen inside (they hadn't found any food though). I read somewhere that cucumber peels were supposed to repel them, so I tried that. I had already ordered some ant poison from Amazon but decided to give that a spin by the time it arrived. I placed the cucumber peels just next to the crack they were getting in from.
In two days time the poison arrived and THE ANTS WERE GONE. The ant poison still sits there unopened because they never came back.
Last year we had a problem in my house - ants. They were getting in from outside and all over the kitchen inside (they hadn't found any food though). I read somewhere that cucumber peels were supposed to repel them, so I tried that. I had already ordered some ant poison from Amazon but decided to give that a spin by the time it arrived. I placed the cucumber peels just next to the crack they were getting in from.
In two days time the poison arrived and THE ANTS WERE GONE. The ant poison still sits there unopened because they never came back.
some school tricks
- stuck for references to add to your essay/paper/whatever? Check Wikipedia. Yeah, you've most likely used it to write it in the first place, but go and follow the references - include the ones that seem relevant. For bonus points, the references may have references themselves.
- OK, dunno if it still works, but I've used it extensively in high school - get your notes for an exam (preferably, one that doesn't allow notes) and print them in the lowest possible size. I've copied A4 papers to 12.5% (i.e., 1/8th) the size. You can then stack the papers and they wouls still be small enough to hide, but also good enough to read.
- related to the above FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DO NOT NUMBER THE NOTES. It wasn't only me - a lot of people were using this trick. But if you get caught, you might be able to keep at least part of the notes. One girl had two pairs of notes prepared in case, but when she got caught, the teacher saw she had "page 3/10" twice. Well, her second pair of notes wasn't of much use, afterwards. But try to not get caught.
- stuck for references to add to your essay/paper/whatever? Check Wikipedia. Yeah, you've most likely used it to write it in the first place, but go and follow the references - include the ones that seem relevant. For bonus points, the references may have references themselves.
- OK, dunno if it still works, but I've used it extensively in high school - get your notes for an exam (preferably, one that doesn't allow notes) and print them in the lowest possible size. I've copied A4 papers to 12.5% (i.e., 1/8th) the size. You can then stack the papers and they wouls still be small enough to hide, but also good enough to read.
- related to the above FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DO NOT NUMBER THE NOTES. It wasn't only me - a lot of people were using this trick. But if you get caught, you might be able to keep at least part of the notes. One girl had two pairs of notes prepared in case, but when she got caught, the teacher saw she had "page 3/10" twice. Well, her second pair of notes wasn't of much use, afterwards. But try to not get caught.
- reverse image search - you can pick any image you want and with it. Really useful if you have an image of something but you don't know what. Right-click the image you want and select "Copy image URL" (or whatever it's called in your browser) and then just go straight to "Google [http://google.com], paste it in the search box and then click the link in "For matching images, try search by image" text that shows up under the search bar.
- install Lazarus - it's a browser addon. It's probably the most useful addon I've ever had - it saves text you type in. AMAZINGLY USEFUL! Especially if you accidentally nuke that message you spent so much time typing.
- if you need caffeine (usually in order to stay awake) but want to save some money, just buy caffeine tablets. For the cost of a pack of coffee, you get way, way more supply. Way cheaper than energy drinks, too (those are shit anyway). In general, a normal cup of coffee would have approximately 150-200mg caffeine - energy drinks usually have at most as much per can. AT MOST, Redbull, for example, has 80mg. Tablets come in usually 100mg or 200mg each and you can buy them in packs of 50, 100 and more. Guideline on dosage: 200mg should be enough for a dose, try to not go over about 300mg at a short-ish time (your hands might get shaky).
- install Lazarus - it's a browser addon. It's probably the most useful addon I've ever had - it saves text you type in. AMAZINGLY USEFUL! Especially if you accidentally nuke that message you spent so much time typing.
- if you need caffeine (usually in order to stay awake) but want to save some money, just buy caffeine tablets. For the cost of a pack of coffee, you get way, way more supply. Way cheaper than energy drinks, too (those are shit anyway). In general, a normal cup of coffee would have approximately 150-200mg caffeine - energy drinks usually have at most as much per can. AT MOST, Redbull, for example, has 80mg. Tablets come in usually 100mg or 200mg each and you can buy them in packs of 50, 100 and more. Guideline on dosage: 200mg should be enough for a dose, try to not go over about 300mg at a short-ish time (your hands might get shaky).
Anti life hax (basically, stuff that doesn't work
- And other related "elevator hacks". Ignore them. All of them. They don't work - you need to put the elevator in elevated privilege mode (actually, "manual mode") to get that behaviour. Unless you know how to do that, any "press these buttons to succeed at elevators" is rubbish. here is an hour long video on actual elevator hacks [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHf1vD5_b5I] - tl;dw: it's not pressing buttons.
-long complex passwords - rubbish again. Refer to xkcd[/url. This is how you make your passwords from now on. You can also use sentences. Actually, try to make them sentence-like at any rate - make sure you have a number and some sort of punctuation in your password - usually a "secure" password would need a number and a special character. The latter varies in definition but usually .?-,!"$%^&*() - so if you add some sort of punctuation (fullstop, or question mark, or an exclamation mark at the end, maybe some commas) it would cover that part. It's as safe (and probably more) from pure technical perspective and it's WAY easier to remember. You can also easily have unique passwords for everything, as you could incorporate some sort of identifying information (for you) in them.
-long complex passwords - rubbish again. Refer to xkcd[/url. This is how you make your passwords from now on. You can also use sentences. Actually, try to make them sentence-like at any rate - make sure you have a number and some sort of punctuation in your password - usually a "secure" password would need a number and a special character. The latter varies in definition but usually .?-,!"$%^&*() - so if you add some sort of punctuation (fullstop, or question mark, or an exclamation mark at the end, maybe some commas) it would cover that part. It's as safe (and probably more) from pure technical perspective and it's WAY easier to remember. You can also easily have unique passwords for everything, as you could incorporate some sort of identifying information (for you) in them.
Some of these you may know already, others you might not. but that's what I remember right now, I'll try to add more.
