Tag Archives: shortcut

Readers offer their best tips for using Google Voice overseas, getting refunds on unrefundable tickets, and opening up an Outlook template with a simple hotkey. Don't like the gallery layout? Click here to view everything on one page. About the Tips Box: Every day we receive boatloads of great reader tips in our inbox, but for various reasons—maybe they're a bit too niche, maybe we couldn't find a good way to present it, or maybe we just couldn't fit it in—the tip didn't make the front page. From the Tips Box is where we round up some of our favorites for your buffet-style consumption. Got a tip of your own to share? Add it in the comments, share it here , or email it to tips at lifehacker.com. Use Google Voice and Gizmo5 to Place and Receive Calls Internationally Peter uses Gizmo5 to make his Google Voice account work around the world: Lifehacker has covered how to make free calls with Google Voice by combining it with Gizmo5 . Although you need to be in the U.S. to activate your Google Voice account, when traveling overseas, you can use Skype (though you have to pay for a SkypeOut number) or Gizmo5 to use the same technique to place free calls back home to the U.S. or Canada. If you're very adventurous, you can have Skype or Gizmo5 forward your Google Voice calls to your local cell phone while in a faraway land — sometimes it's cost prohibitive to do so, but in China for example, the rates are extremely reasonable. Of course we all look forward to the day when Google will allow us to forward our Google Voice numbers internationally simply from the Google Voice UI, but until then, the above techniques should keep you covered. Open an Outlook Template with a Keyboard Shortcut Pfepher saves time by creating shortcuts to email templates: I send the same email multiple times a day, so I've created a keyboard short-cut. Step 1: create an email template in Outlook or whatever mail client you use Step 2: create a desktop shortcut to said email template Step 3: create the keyboard shortcut - right click shortcut and click "properties" -select the Shortcut tab -click in the "Shortcut key" box -type your desired shortcut key combo. I tried Ctrl+] but it automatically assigned it Ctrl+Alt+] Now I don't need to leave my "templates" folder open all day or minimize all windows to get to my desktop, I just Ctrl+Alt+] and voile'! The email opens. Wash Socks in Mesh Laundry Bags to Keep from Losing Them Photo by Ruthanne Reid . Barry keeps all his socks together by washing them together: Buy, or make, a couple of medium-sized zippered mesh laundry bags. They are sometimes called lingerie bags. Put them in your closet, near the laundry basket, or close to where ever you take off your socks. Designate one of the bags for white socks, and one for dark socks. If you have more variations, get more bags. When you take your socks off, put them in the appropriate bag. When it's time to do laundry, zip up the bag and throw it in the wash with your similarly-colored clothes. Leave the socks zipped up in the bag even when you put clothes in the dryer. When the clothes are dry, pull the socks out, pair them, and put them away... Simple. I've been doing this for about two years and I'm yet to lose a sock. Before this it felt like I lost one a week! Use Coffee Stirrers with Compressed Air Cans Photo by Joshin Yamada . UnderwearEyes remarks on Twitter how she repurposes coffee stirrers for missing parts : Brent lost the plastic tube that comes with the compressed gas duster cans. So I gave him a coffee stirrer. Take that Lifehacker!