Category: Life hacks

Get your books Netflix style

Here’s a great idea, BookSwim.com, allows you to borrow books similar to Netflix. You pay a monthly fee and they mail you the next book or books in your cue. Once you finish reading them, put the books back in the shipping package, mail it back and you’ll get the next book in the mail.

BookSwim is the first online BOOK RENTAL LIBRARY CLUB lending you paperbacks and hardcovers directly to your house WITHOUT THE NEED TO PURCHASE! Whether it’s New Releases, Bestsellers, or Classics, we’ve got 150,000 titles to choose from, with FREE SHIPPING BOTH WAYS! Read your books as long as you want. — no late fees! Even choose to purchase and keep the titles you love!

I tried the site the other day and it was pretty much down due to the huge surge in traffic they’ve been getting from the media publicity – they were also looking for investors – probably to increase their server capacity.
I hope to take a look at it and see if it’s worth the investment for the books I normally read – because as I’ve mentioned before, the Waxahachie Library never has anything I’m looking for.
Of course the downside is, you’re borrowing the books and not keeping them so my habit of underlining and making notes may have to end – I always have trouble with that anytime I borrow a book from someone else.

Very good to know…

Lifehacker passes along information on how to turn your (analog) wristwatch into a compass.

Hold a watch with 12 o’clock at left. Move your arm so the hour hand points at the sun. The spot halfway between the hour hand and the 12 is south.
The comments of the Wired post offer a few important caveats. First, if you’re in the southern hemisphere, you would point 12 o’clock at the sun but still split the difference between 12 and the hour hand for north. Also, if you practice daylight saving time, you should subtract one hour from the hour hand.

This may give me more reason to wear my wristwatch when I’m camping or other outdoors activities – or at least buy a cheaper one I don’t mind getting messed up.

Give that clothing away

Chances are you’ve got a closet full of clothes that don’t get worn very often. I know I do. I have a top shelf full of t-shirts from college days and back when I was a computer tech and everyone and their mother gave away free promotional t-shirts for their product.
A wise rule of thumb to remember when you’re trying to declutter (so say the experts) is to get rid of anything you haven’t used in six months to a year.
Here’s a handy way to figure that out with your clothing from Merlin and Lifehacker…

First, turn the hangers of all your clothing away from you, and set a calendar reminder to go off in 6 or 12 months. Then when your n months have passed, and your calendar reminds you that it’s time, open your closet and remove every piece of clothing on a backward hanger; the chances are good you can give it away without the slightest pain, because you just clearly demonstrated that you don’t wear it.

When you’re ready to give those clothes away – there are plenty of places to donate them to, or you may be able to find a second-hand store that will actually buy them from you. Of if you have the spare time, you can sell them on E-bay or Craigslist and then give that money to charity ;-).
Folks from our church are always looking for clothes, coats and blankets to take to the Austin Street Shelter and other homeless areas in Downtown Dallas – so if nothing else, let us know and we’ll be sure they get in the hands of those in need.
And speaking of, I think it’s time I give my clothes another look as well.

Implant restores function in barely conscious man

By implanting electrodes into a man who has been in a limited conscious state for the last six years, doctors and scientists have now been able to restore function in the man.
From NPR:

Doctors tried the experimental treatment on a man left severely brain damaged after an assault more than six years ago. For years, the man barely interacted with people, only sometimes nodding yes or shaking his head no. Sometimes he would mouth a single word. Now, he can speak in phrases and even recited part of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Listen to the story online.
According to the story, some of his memory is still gone but his mother is thrilled that he can say “Mommy” and “Pop” and say “I love you Mommy.”
A similar implant did not help Terry Schiavo before she was removed from life support.
Speaking of medicine – 15 more minutes till I can take some more steroids. Let’s see if we can get some miraculous results from these pills as well.

Throw your cellphone away

Wired offers 10 reasons to throw your cellphone away.

  • It makes your life more complicated
  • It’s horribly expensive
  • It enslaves you to a one-sided contract
  • It makes you perpetually available
  • It is boring
  • It must constantly be recharged
  • It knows where you are
  • It encourages stupid people to become a public menace
  • Ubiquitous pleather accessory shops
  • It turns you into a public annoyance – Hell is other people’s ringtones.

I’ve gotten to where I’m using the actual phone part of my cellphone less and less. I often leave it in the car or at home whenever I don’t think I’ll need it. It’s still a security blanket in some regards. But I do love the convenience of sending prayer requests or other text messages to a number of people all at once without having to pick up the phone over and over again to pass along a message.
What about you? Could you drop your cellphone and move back “into the stone age?”
What if we just all went to two way pagers? Could you live with that?

Thanks to Lifehacker for the tip.