Everyday tips and tricks

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Never lend your game discs to friends. Quite often they are far less careful handling them than you are. The last thing you want is a 60-dollar disc scratched so much it's unplayable.

Especially if those "friends" lend your games out to their other friends without your permission. It's happened to me before and it took a long ass time to get the game(s) back.

I was stupid enough to lend my friend two Guncons and games knowing that he was gonna lend it to his then girlfriend's brother. They broke up and I've never seen the darn things again. On the flipside, he did buy me a Wii for my birthday, though that probably had to do with me introducing him to a job. He's a good friend of mine, so eh, whatever. No need to damage a relationship because of a couple of plastic guns and games.

[xris]

Never loan anything you want back.
If you need to wear the same shoes everyday for some reason. Wad up newspaper and put it in the shoes over night. It will help to remove excess moisture.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Gotta try that when my sneakers get soaked up inside when it rains. I hate that.

[mesh control]

-Always pull out

[ATH-A700s]

When creating a forum username, do not integrate "420", "69", or "Xx xX". Seriously, this makes you look like a douche.

For example: Xxrobivy42069xX =

What's so bad about the number 420?
Anyway, to be on topic, if you are wearing earbuds, never leave one in your ear and let the other one hang down completely. Doing so will cause strain on the wire (and most earbuds don't really have high quality wires) and on the headphones.
Yea... I learned that the hard way, which is why I wear full sized headphones. (and because they typically have a much higher sound quality than earbuds in the same price range)

[null1024]

To quickly mend a pair of headphones, just take the pieces of split wire, sand the coating off the ends of them, and then splice them back together. Oh, and tape+solder, although I usually don't solder mine [because I don't have a soldering iron].

[KBZ]

Many of today's headphones will use painted wire so it can be tedious to strip them down to the bare copper that we can solder to.

Some guys at head-fi taught me to burn off the pain with a lighter and scrape off the burnt bits with an sharp blade leaving the clean copper. Used this method to fix my gf's earbuds.


also, skipping along is faster and uses less energy than speedwalking. However I don't recommend doing it in pubic...

[Pirate1019]

also, skipping along is faster and uses less energy than speedwalking. However I don't recommend doing it in pubic...

I just run everywhere like a doofus. I used to run Cross Country, so I forgot the embarrassment years ago. If you're going to college and live off-campus it's a great way to at least keep yourself moving, if not exactly stay in shape.

[Ex-Cyber]

What's so bad about the number 420?

It's "code" for advertising one's love of marijuana. In terms of garnering any kind of respect, it's only slightly better than making your username, say, "iLuV2gEtHaMmErEd". Like "69", it's also the sort of thing that rebellious teenagers often seem to think adults don't know.

[Pixel_Outlaw]

If you have ports on the back of your computer or television consider using simple extension cables to bring those ports to the front of the device. I now have access to the USB and audio ports right in front of me I don't have to get up to get at them. The idea is to move the socket from the back of the device to your fingertips.

[Elixir]

Never buy Thermaltake PC cases.

[Specineff]

Oh? Explain, please.

[EPS21]

Thermaltake makes decent Cases and PSU's, Elixir probably just got a bad one, and from that experience probably swore all their stuff off.

I used to do that too until I realized that mass produced goods always have some bad apples. Just make sure to buy from places where you can RMA/return the items without hassle.

There are some crappy companies out there though so if you consistently get crap stuff from them, well sure you can swear them off, and they probably wouldn't be in business much longer anyways

[Schrodinger's cat]

I used to do that too until I realized that mass produced goods always have some bad apples. Just make sure to buy from places where you can RMA/return the items without hassle.

Also try to be sure to replace the defective item with one from a different lot/batch. I've returned/RMA'ed multiple items before and got the same defect(s) on the replacement. This was especially ugly when the item in question was a PSU for a computer I was building. It would get sporadic voltage spikes and made my hard drive unreadable...twice.

[Elixir]

Oh? Explain, please.

I bought a PC that came with a Thermaltake case in October of last year. It has a built-in compartment for a fan on the top, which occasionally rattles while in graphic-intensive games. In fact, it WILL rattle in any game like TF2 or Borderlands, since the fan spins faster. I can lower the fan speed but that really defeats the purpose.

Also, it's a dust magnet, these things come with tiny holes for mesh on the front, and within a month they're covered with a moderate layer of dust. My old PC did me well and I left it going day and night, this one I just shut down at night. It's also much louder, and I can't sleep with this kind of noise.

[robivy64]

Always look for the "Free Tour".

Don't pay the money.

[Ex-Cyber]

Here are a couple that come to mind:

University libraries usually don't require any ID to just go in and read books during business hours. If you don't want to enroll in an actual program for whatever reason (cost, learning style, etc.), this can be a cheap way to teach yourself from university-level literature if you live near a university. Current editions of course-oriented textbooks usually won't be on the shelf (if the library has them, they're likely to be checked out), but being an edition or two behind makes little practical difference most of the time if you're not taking a course. You can't check out books, and they can ask you to leave, but if you don't look like a hobo and do look like you're studying, nobody's likely to bother you unless you're there at closing time. Yes, there's e-book warez for this kind of stuff, but AFAIK only a tiny fraction of a decent library's collection is readily available by such means. Likewise, many professors (especially at smaller universities) have things like lecture slides, homework assignments, and practice exams on unsecured websites. Whatever you do, though, don't contact them about it if you're not in their class. As a rule, they hate it when people (even other professors) do that, and it encourages them to lock up their future materials in BlackBoard or some other god-awful system. Don't be the reason that students have to log into BlackBoard to get their homework.

Carry a pen/pencil and a small notepad or similar artifact. Write down ideas that occur to you or obligations you incur during the day. Even if you're good at remembering such things, it can really take a load off your mind to have them on paper (just make sure that you check it regularly). This doesn't work for everyone, but it's at least worth a try.

Also, it's a dust magnet

Pretty much anything with a fan is a dust magnet; some just hide it better than others. I vaguely remember a bit from the One Laptop Per Child hardware FAQ that went something like:

Q: How will the laptop be cooled?
A: Passively. We don't want to have any fans because they're noisy and failure-prone and consume power and cause dust build-up.

Q: How will you deal with dust?
A: By not having any fans.

Sadly, the idea of true passively-cooled computers seems to have mostly fallen by the wayside now that a chip apparently needs to dissipate at least a few dozen watts for anyone to take it seriously.

[KBZ]

Sadly, the idea of true passively-cooled computers seems to have mostly fallen by the wayside now that a chip apparently needs to dissipate at least a few dozen watts for anyone to take it seriously.

we can still dream.....

[ZOM]

Water cooling.

[Lordstar]

Water cooling.

In a laptop? Thats a fucking acident waiting to happen. Can you imagine getting that though the airport scanners? I mean everyones seen Diehard3!

[EPS21]

Water cooling still requires fans on the radiator to cool the liquid, so its still not truly noiseless.
For all intents and purposes, its mostly a ricer thing though.

[Pixel_Outlaw]

WD40
Duct tape
Super Glue

[neorichieb1971]

PSN allows 1 download to 5 machines. Therefore if you want to play online against a friend who also has a PS3 but does not have the game you have, then just download it for them on your account. You do need to put in a password but you don't need to save it on the said system. Your account has to be active on that machine, but without the password they can't do any damage.

I have this setup on my machine and a friends, we share all our PSN games.

[ROBOTRON]

I need that type of action:

[Pixel_Outlaw]

I need that type of action:

Completely off topic but be careful with those analog stick controllers. I see you have some there in the box, if you leave them in a non neutral position over time they may never center properly again. Killed off a Gamecube and ps2 controller this way.

Well I guess that actually might count as a tip of sorts for this thread.

[Pirate1019]

pic

This is now a 'showcase your nerd lair' thread.

[Klatrymadon]

University libraries usually don't require any ID to just go in and read books during business hours. If you don't want to enroll in an actual program for whatever reason (cost, learning style, etc.), this can be a cheap way to teach yourself from university-level literature if you live near a university.

I haven't found that to be the case here in North West England, sadly. When I finished my degree, I thought I'd basically be able to bum around in university libraries as much as I wanted to, either reading recreationally or swotting up for the MA course I hope to start at some point. Quite apart from the fact that most of their entrances use turnstiles operated by ID cards, though, most places won't even let you sign in as a guest unless you can prove you're currently a student of something, somewhere.

Although, it's certainly possible that they're just telling me that, because I look like a hobo.

[ROBOTRON]

pic

This is now a 'showcase your nerd lair' thread.

INDEED.


________________


@ Pixel_Outlaw.........tanx, dude.

[Ex-Cyber]

University libraries usually don't require any ID to just go in and read books during business hours. If you don't want to enroll in an actual program for whatever reason (cost, learning style, etc.), this can be a cheap way to teach yourself from university-level literature if you live near a university.

I haven't found that to be the case here in North West England, sadly. When I finished my degree, I thought I'd basically be able to bum around in university libraries as much as I wanted to, either reading recreationally or swotting up for the MA course I hope to start at some point. Quite apart from the fact that most of their entrances use turnstiles operated by ID cards, though, most places won't even let you sign in as a guest unless you can prove you're currently a student of something, somewhere.

Although, it's certainly possible that they're just telling me that, because I look like a hobo.

I guess practices differ more than I've seen. I assumed that smaller private ones might be more strict, but that's the first I've actually heard of any that require ID just to get in.

[Klatrymadon]

I've got one!

Try to learn your family's birthdays.