Organizing Gadgets, Daily Challenges for a Good Life, and the Truth Behind Credit Repair Agencies
Some useful gadgets for organizing and keeping order, the secret history of Mac gaming, McDonald’s and the Chinese take-out mashup, and some tips for the best way to live your life will all be on the table at Lifehacker Brain Buffet this week.
What you need to do every day to live well
Personal rituals mean a lot. They can save you a hard day, keep you fit, keep you and your family healthy, and ease minor annoyances, but they can also improve your life in more tangible ways. There’s nothing revolutionary about this Quora thread, or you may not have heard of it before, but it’s a great reminder of what you can do day in and day out to feel better about yourself and the world around you. sharper than others.
It all starts with a simple question: what should I do every day to live well? You will see things like “exercise, eat healthy food and be grateful for what you have,” which you can expect. You will also see more interesting thoughts, such as “reflect and appreciate, remember to dream and embrace your fears.” Here’s one that stuck with me:
“Keep reminding yourself that this minute may actually be the last minute of your life.”
Do this every morning before starting your day. To some, this may seem boring, pessimistic. But this is the deepest awareness one can get.
Another short one:
Stop ignoring yourself.
It was in the context of learning not to put yourself, your dreams, and your goals in the service of your job, your company, or even people who would rather you fulfill your dreams in front of them and live your best life. Seriously, read the entire email chain and start your week on the right track. [ via Quora ]
Useful gadgets to help you organize your work
We often share a variety of little gadgets and tools that you can keep on your desk at home or work to stay organized, but this Mental Floss article contains 15 fun little products to help you get started. Some of them are downright ridiculous (like the cat bank – said by someone who owns it), but others are really useful, like cable ties or a USB paper towel holder , because your phone is probably on the counter anyway. while you cook, you can also charge it.
Some of the others are also noteworthy, such as the cloud-based magnetic keychain that you can clip to the wall, although we showed you how to do something similar not too long ago . [ via Mental Floss , thanks Sam! ]
What do you really get when you use the services of the agency “Credit Repair”
All it takes is unexpected medical bills or getting laid off at work due to company turmoil to turn your steady stream of income into fast-paced thresholds of despair, ruin your credit, and pile up debt. The so-called “credit repair” services sell you the idea that they can help, but what do you get if you actually enter into a contract?
This thread on StackExchange offers several answers for the curious you may have suspected of:
Credit recovery takes time. Companies that offer to do this for you (for money) usually succeed mainly in getting money from you. Nonprofit agencies will help you with advice and encouragement and will not want money from you. They can help you apply for a consolidated loan, but to be honest, this is rarely the best first step.
Over time you need:
- stop accumulating debt (live within your means)
- pay off all your debts, possibly with a consolidated loan with a lower interest rate
- receive and pay off a small debt to prove that you can
The last step can occur months or years after the first two.
It may be tempting to seek help from someone who offers you a lifebuoy, but in reality, this lifebuoy may end up just another leak from an already bad situation. Likewise, we’ve discussed the pros and cons of consolidation loans before – they’re not for everyone, but the OP makes a good argument – once you’re in a better financial position, the proof that you can pay off the debt will be long lasting. a way to help restore credit. [ via Stack Exchange ]
The secret history of Mac games
Back in the late 90s and early 2000s, I had a Mac. In fact, many of the computers I used then were mostly Macs (with the exception of Compaq in our CS lab, which we set up to play Duke Nukem 3D) – my first personal computer was an old Macintosh Performa 6400/200 (200 stands for blazing 200 MHz processor he had). And in an era where people just thought there were no games for the Mac, I found myself in a weird and quirky world of games built with hearts, hypercards, and lots of personality.
While we generally never discuss crowdfunding, Richard Moss’s project in the video above to uncover the secret history of Mac gaming is a fun project that anyone who has used these old machines can appreciate. Worth checking out. He notes:
The Secret History of Mac Games is the story of those communities and game developers who survived and thrived in an ecosystem that was continually ignored by the outside world. This is a book about the people who made games and the people who played them – about people who, in both cases, followed their hearts first and market trends second. How, despite everything they went against them, the people who carried the baton of Mac gaming in the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s showed how smart, quirky, and downright wonderful video games can be.
What people forget about the Mac in the past is that while the PC gaming scene was already beginning to thrive on Windows, especially Windows 95 and 98, there was actually an amazing, intense, deep and quirky Mac gaming scene as well. The scene where people swapped copied floppies, shareware CDs attached to enthusiast magazines, and other super weird games you might remember but never see sequels. Companies like Bungie started with games like Marathon, one of the best and well-written first-person shooters ever, and obviously the basis for Halo. And that’s a pretty obvious example. Can’t wait to read it all. [ via Unbound , thanks Boing Boing ! ]
New technologies, old prejudices
Services such as AirBnB, Uber, Lyft and others have made it easier to pool resources, communicate with strangers, and make it easier for ordinary people to make some money by sharing with people who are willing to pay for them, things they don’t always use or use. they need. That’s great, but as NPR’s Hidden Brain podcast shows , it also opens the door to some old biases that technology just can’t solve. This installment focuses on how discrimination manifests itself in AirBnB, a persistent problem that has been studied and documented more than once and spreads from hosts to users and back from users to hosts.
It’s an eye-opening listening, regardless of your nationality, and a reminder that while technology can bring us closer together, it doesn’t solve the problems we already have – people should do it, and in many cases the people behind technology don’t need to. turn a blind eye to the problems that their platforms pose. [ via NPR ]
If McDonalds and Chinese Takeout had a baby
In conclusion, the always fun and always eccentric duo of chefs YouTube Brothers Green Eats have been on the verge of reverse-engineering fast food favorites lately, but this is more than just “how to make McDonald’s at home”, although there are many of them. how to improve on these McDonald’s favorites and blend them with the Chinese takeaways you already know and love.
Don’t expect authenticity here – it’s all about the remix, but the results they get are surprisingly delicious and the ease with which you can prepare some of these dishes at home will make you go through the ride the next time you get hungry and instead then activate your range. Have a nice week. [ via Brothers Green Eats ]
Everyone this week! If you have thought-provoking stories, interesting podcasts, eye-opening videos, or anything else that you think is perfect for Brain Buffet, share it with us! Send it to me by email , leave it as a comment below, or send it in any way convenient for you.