This Week's Top Downloads

Every week, we share a number of downloads for all platforms to help you get things done. Here were the top downloads from this week.

Third-Party Apps That Are Better Than the Official Counterparts

Services like Twitter, Dropbox, YouTube, or Wikipedia love to release official apps for their services. More often than not, third-party developers swoop in to make better apps to access those services than the official ones. We want to collect together the best of those apps.

Five Apps to Make Your iPhone and Mac Work Together Even Better

Apple is always playing up how your Mac and iPhone work great together, but that goes well beyond boring old uses like iCloud syncing or AirDrop. A few apps have come up with clever ways to make your iPhone and Mac work together for tasks like sharing clipboards, typing in passwords, and more. Here are some of our favorites.

Sunrise, the Smart Calendar, Is Now Available for Android and the Web

Android/Chrome/Web: Sunrise, our favorite calendar app for the iPhone, just made the jump to Android, and it's bringing all of its best features along for the ride. Sunrise is also getting a webapp—both designed to give you a productive view of your day.

Start Is a Smart, Customizable Lock Screen for Android

Android: On most phones, the lock screen is just a step between you and what you want to do that adds a little security, but Start is a lock screen replacement that gives you quick shortcuts to calls, texts, favorite apps, even news and social feeds. You can check them all without unlocking first.

G.lux Adjusts the Color Temperature of Chrome to Reduce Eye Strain

Chrome OS: You're probably familiar with F.lux, the popular eye-saving utility that we've discussed a lot here at Lifehacker. G.lux, is a Chrome extension that brings some of the same F.lux features to Chrome.

Google Camera Gets a Timer, New Panorama Modes, and More

Android: Google's new Camera app got a few extra features today, including a timer, new panorama modes, and more.

Mailviewer Opens Old Outlook, Thunderbird, and Windows Live Emails

Windows: If you've got some old emails you'd like to retrieve from Windows Live, Outlook Express, or Thunderbird, Mailviewer can do so—no installation required.

UpTo Combines Your Google Calendar with Secondary Events to Follow

Android/iOS: Most of us include work and social events in our calendars, but don't tend to add peripheral things we're interested in like movie releases or astronomical events. UpTo makes this easy by creating a second layer to your calendar for events you might be interested in.

Light Flow Customizes Android's LED Notifications, No Root Required

Android: Interpreting the flashes emitted by your Android smartphone's LED can be difficult, especially when they're all the same color. Light Flow gives you control, so you can adjust the colors and patterns for individual apps.

Pocket Adds a Premium Plan with Full Search, Permanent Library, More

Pocket today has introduced a Premium version of the bookmarking service. In addition to saving content forever (even if the links go bad), Pocket Premium adds full text search and suggested tags.

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LocalCast Streams Google Drive Videos to Chromecast for Free

We've written about AllCast before, which allows you to stream content from your Google Drive to a Chromecast. Localcast is an ad-supported, free alternative.

You'll need to add the Google Drive option after downloading the app to your Android device. Before you stream content, an ad will appear on your Android device. It's a little annoying, but if you don't want to pay for the full version (or the more feature-filled, but $4.99 AllCast), it's a good free alternative.

LocalCast (Free) | Google Play Store via WonderHowTo

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Check Your Potential Boss' References Before Starting a New Job

When you apply for a job, many employers will check your references to make sure you are a good fit. Have you ever thought about checking the references on your employer, in particular your future supervisor? Next time, give it a try.

Psychology Today has some tips on how to watch out for a bad boss at a job interview, but checking references before accepting a job is brilliant:

"Check LinkedIn and social media for news and comments on the company and boss's leadership abilities. Decide what you want from your work environment and weigh those criteria against the position, such as:team approach, flextime, proximity to home, family-friendly, volunteerism, green policy, and so on."

People currently working for them may not always feel comfortable speaking up, but with LinkedIn, you can easily check who worked for that boss in the past by seeing for whom they wrote recommendations I also suggest searching for your new potential job title on LinkedIn as you can frequently find previous people who had that job.

Check out the rest of the suggestions to find the right supervisor by following the link.

Watch for These Bad Boss Signs in Your Job Interviews | Psychology Today

Photo by Jon Fingas .

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Get Roadside Assistance from Your Credit Card or Insurance Company for Less

Many of us have a membership in an auto club for roadside repair assistance, and we renew every year without thinking about it. However, you might already have access to this service for less money through your credit card or insurance company.

Although you get certain other benefits with an auto club like discounted travel, if your goal is simply roadside assistance, check with your credit card company first. American Express has these services for most cardholders and Discover has discounts as well. Your auto insurer may allow you to add it on to your existing policy for much less than an auto club. My insurance company charges $9.00 a year for this service per vehicle.

Check out the other ways to save on roadside assistance by following the link.

How to choose a roadside-assistance plan | Consumer Reports

Photo by George Redgrave.

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Group Temp Jobs Together on Your Resume to Show Stability

If your job history has been unstable due to multiple temp jobs, some companies may be reluctant to hire you for fear you'll quickly move on. According to CareeRealism, you can avoid this by bunching your temporary jobs together on your resume

By listing these jobs as one work experience, you show that you've been consistently working and developing skills rather than just hopping from job to job. They advise:

"Rather than listing out every period of work for the 5 or 10 jobs you had, group it all together as one period of work. For instance, if you were doing contract work with five different clients, include the date you began contract work and the date you ended contract work, regardless of whether you were still working with same client"

The link has additional suggestions if your work history hasn't been consistent through no fault of your own.

How to List Temporary Work On Your Resume Effectively | CareeRealism

Photo by mobilestreetlife .

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Batch Delete Photos in iOS from the Moments Section

In most areas of iOS' Photos app, you can only delete photos one at a time. What a pain. However, if you go to the Moments section, you can actually delete photos in batches.

Before you delete anything, backup the photos you want just in case. Then, go into the Photos app, switch to the Moments section, and select all the photos you want to delete by checkmarking them. Then click the trash icon and delete the photos.

How to quickly delete photos and videos to free up storage on your iPhone or iPad | iMore

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Deal with Difficult People by Understanding Those Qualities in Yourself

When people annoy us, it could be they remind us of what we don't like about ourselves. Dumb Little Man has a test for determining this and ultimately changing those qualities in yourself.

They suggest examining exactly what is bothering you about the other person. Then, using a technique called projection recall, reflect upon yourself as if the other person were a mirror. Look at that annoying quality in the other person, such as not listening, then reflect upon yourself. They explain:

"To clearly see this as the mirror that it is, replace his/her name or pronoun with your own. For instance, in my example I would write: I am not listening. Ask yourself if this rings true.

... Next ask yourself why you do this. If no answer comes to mind, keep asking. You will become aware of the answer eventually."

Check the link for the rest of the tips on how to use this realization to make people less difficult to deal with.

6 Reasons Why People That Annoy You Can Make You Happy | Dumb Little Man

Photo by D Wallis .

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Top 10 Incredibly Useful Windows Programs to Have On Hand

Some apps are essential, and you use them every day. Everyone knows their names: Firefox, VLC, 7-Zip, and so on. However, there's another class of app that gets less attention: the apps that are insanely useful to have in your back pocket on the rare occasions you need them. Here are 10 of our favorites.

10. Speccy

Maybe you've forgotten what kind of RAM you bought, or want a quick glance at your CPU's temperature. Speccy scans your machine and gives you a complete rundown of everything, from model numbers to temperatures, fan speeds, S.M.A.R.T. status, and...well, pretty much anything else you can think of. It's also available in portable form, so you don't have to install anything—just stick it in a folder for when you really need it. For an alternative, check out HWiNFO.

9. Ultimate Windows Tweaker

When you first install Windows, you probably get everything set up just the way you like it, including all your favorite little Registry hacks and unsupported tweaks. You might even discover new ones later and try them out. Apps like Ultimate Windows Tweaker make this a lot easier, and they're useful to keep around later if you start incorporating new things into your workflow. Its list of features is endless, allowing you to tweak the tiniest features in the taskbar, Windows Explorer, the lock screen, and anything else you could imagine. Download it once and keep it forever.

8. Stress Testing Utilities

Overclockers are probably very familiar with stress testing utilities like Prime95, LinX, and AIDA64. If you've overclocked your CPU, you should definitely keep these around, but they can be useful for non-overclockers too. When your processor is having issues, it can be difficult to diagnose. If some of your apps are crashing, a stress test like Prime95 can help you figure out whether your CPU is the problem (or whether it's something else). Many folks also recommend giving a new computer a stress test to make sure there aren't any problems. Most of these are also portable, so you can throw them in a folder and start them up when you need them.

7. MalwareBytes, VirusTotal, and AdwCleaner

We put these in the same category since they all protect you from unwanted programs, but they're each useful in their own right. You probably have a good antivirus program running all the time, but no antivirus program catches everything—so it's useful to have a secondary program to check once in awhile. MalwareBytes is great because it only works on-demand, which means it won't conflict with your always-running antivirus tool. The VirusTotal Uploader, on the other hand, lets you scan any individual file with over 50 antivirus tools at once, so it's great if you've downloaded something you think might be fishy. Lastly, if you've accidentally installed an annoying toolbar on your system that just won't go away, AdwCleaner will help you get rid of it.

6. Magical Jelly Bean KeyFinder

Ever had to reinstall a program, but couldn't find your product key? Magical Jelly Bean KeyFinder will search your PC for installed programs, and—if they have a product key—show them to you, so you can write it down and use it the next time you reinstall. Note: this one contains some toolbars and such upon installation, so be sure to use the custom installation to avoid the crapware.

5. Process Explorer

The Windows Task Manager can show you a lot of information about what programs are running, and usually it does what you need it to. But on the rare occasions you need more information—like if you're trying to figure out which program is using your webcam, for example—you need Process Explorer. Process Explorer is one of the many Task Manager alternatives out there, offering information on what files are currently in use, what hardware, and what each program is doing. If the regular Task Manager isn't giving you the info you need, Process Explorer will.

4. UNetbootin and YUMI

Even if you're a diehard Windows user, Linux can be really useful from time to time—especially for troubleshooting. Traditionally, Linux distros and other troubleshooting tools come in the form of live CDs, but if you don't have a CD drive, UNetbootin is a seriously handy tool. It can turn nearly any ISO into a bootable flash drive. Even better is YUMI, which lets you put multiple live CDs on one flash drive—meaning you can combine all your favorite rescue discs, Linux distros, and other tools and put them in your pocket.

3. Wireless Network Watcher (and Other Network Tools)

Need to see a list of all the computers on your network, along with IP addresses, MAC addresses, and other information? Whether you're planning your network or think someone's stealing your Wi-Fi, Wireless Network Watcher is a handy tool to have around. Despite its name, it works over wired networks, too. Of course, we also recommend checking out all of NirSoft's network tools—which one you use depends on what you're trying to troubleshoot, but they're all pretty awesome.

2. WinDirStat

We all reach that fateful day at some point: when your computer tells you its running out of space. Not sure where it's all going? WinDirStat will tell you. It scans all of your disks and shows you the biggest folders, which file types are taking up space, and more. If you've tried the usual things (like Disk Cleanup) and are still coming up short, WinDirStat is the next step in the disk cleaning process.

1. Sandboxie

Let's admit it: sometimes, even though we know it's wrong, we all open the occasional sketchy program or file. We're not judging, but if you're going to do it, at least use protection. Enter Sandboxie, which lets you run programs independent of the rest of your system. That way they can't infect, access, or otherwise interfere with your Windows installation. It's also great for testing apps you aren't sure of or running multiple instances of an app that won't let you, so it's fun for the whole family.

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Learn to Decipher the Blue Screen of Death and Troubleshoot Your PC

Although the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) has changed a bit in Windows 8, Windows computers still crash. Those messages have a bunch of cryptic phrases and numbers, and they aren't very helpful. Maximum PC has a guide deciphering BSOD.

Each BSOD has certain key elements as Maximum PC explains:

Error Name

There are many parts to a BSoD, but the most important is right at the top. The actual name of the error is presented in all caps with an underscore between each word. In some cases this will be all that's needed to get to the root of the problem (thanks to the handy guide you are about to read). Most of the time, however, more information will be required.

Troubleshooting Advice

Nearly every BSoD includes a portion of text with some basic troubleshooting advice, the first of which recommends restarting your computer. Gee, thanks for the tip Microsoft. Before you restart, copy the exact all-caps error code and hexadecimal values shown above and below this portion of generic text. The next paragraph provides sound advice, alerting the user to check to make sure their hardware is installed properly, or to undo any recent software or hardware upgrades.

Memory Dump

Every BSoD is accompanied by a memory dump. What this means is when Windows crashes, it dumps whatever it is holding in system memory to a file, and saves the file on your hard drive for debugging purposes. If you contact Microsoft for technical assistance, they'll want to know the contents of this file.

Stop Code

The "technical information" section portion contains the actual Windows stop code, in oh-so-easy-to-read hexadecimal form. Despite appearing unintelligible at first glance, this combination of numbers and letters is instrumental in determining the cause of the crash. Pay particular attention to the first set of numbers and letters. It precedes the other four, which are enclosed in parenthesis. If a specific driver is associated with the crash, it will be listed on the very next line.

Knowing what these mean is handy, but Maximum PC also has a big list of the most common BSODs codes, what they mean, and how to fix them. Check out the link for all the details.

Blue Screen of Death Survival Guide: Every Error Explained | Maximum PC

Photo by Jared Goralnic .

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Create Public Accountability to Ensure You Complete a Task

If you find yourself having a hard time completing your tasks, Katie Dwyer of HackCollege recommends a few ways you can use others to force you to be accountable.

When you're the only one in charge of getting something done, it can build up a lot of pressure. Dwyer has a few tips for outsourcing some of that pressure and pushing yourself to get things done:

• Announcing you won't be using/checking social media for a certain amount of time. (And then sticking to it because it's embarrassing to be caught "liking" an ex's photo when you're supposedly on a social media blackout)


• Announcing your word count/page count every day. This is a favorite of mine—during my thesis writing I had a big community of people who would cheer me on during the first draft. It was really helpful.


• Make plans that are contingent on you getting a certain amount of work done. Ask the other person to enforce this.

The next time you have a task that needs to get done, try using the social realm as a tool instead of a distraction.

4 Great Study Strategies to Tackle Finals | HackCollege

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Show Up Early to Meetings to Get to Know Your Co-Workers Better

When you've started a new job, it can be hard to get to know everyone there. John Brandon from Inc. suggests showing up early to every meeting so you have some free time to talk to people.

Being the new guy or gal doesn't have to last long if you follow Brandon's advice:

Arrive early at a meeting and force yourself to get to know your co-workers. It's amazing how a little free time can force even the most introspective among us to open up a little. Go ahead and reward yourself (and I mean this with all sincerity) for coming early by then leaving immediately without making any small talk. It will help you stick with your plan. And get back to your task list.

Talking with new co-workers before the meeting takes the pressure off. You're not forcing anything by hanging around afterward because everyone has to be there.

How to Shed Your Introverted Ways in 6 Simple Steps | Inc.

Photo by gemphoto (Shutterstock).

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"Everything Good Proceeds from Enthusiasm"

It's easy to get creatively stuck on things. Often our response is to try and sit back and wait for something to happen. Musician Brian Eno reminds us that doesn't work. You need to get excited and find that inspiration.

Eno's point is that sometimes the best motivation is your own desire to see something through:

Everything good proceeds from enthusiasm. The sense of "I really want to know how this turns out" will drive you on through many long nights of no results. Whereas the feeling of "I think I ought to do this" dries up pretty quickly.

It's a good reminder that if you're working on something you're not excited about, it might be time to shelf that project and find something else.

Brian Eno by Alfred Dunhill | YouTube

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Convert Handwritten Notes to Digital Text for the Best of Both Worlds

With the world's obsession with apps and smartphones, it's easy to forget how a simple handwritten note is sometimes the easiest way to jot down your thoughts. Luckily, you can still get the benefits of a searchable, syncable database with handwritten notes and get the best of both worlds.

Handwriting Isn't Dead

If you need to make a note of someone's phone number, it makes perfect sense to type it directly into your phone rather than using paper as a middleman. However, if you're talking on the phone or don't have your phone around, you may grab the nearest pen-like implement and scrawl the information down on any available flat surface, the back of your hand, or whatever else is within reach. Heck, some of you even prefer pen and paper for managing their to-do list.

There are many advantages to writing longhand. Over the years, there have been numerous studies that suggest that it is easier to remember information if it is written out in longhand rather than typed. Students the world over are all too familiar with this concept—who hasn't spent hours writing and re-writing lecture notes when cramming for an exam?

Opting for the more brain-intensive process of writing greatly improves the scope for data retention. Typing can be a passive process reliant on memory-muscle, while writing is more involved. The medical community, learning specialists and undergraduate studies all support the idea. Plus, your pen will not run out of battery, and a writing surface is nearly always available—even if its just the back of your hand.

Handwritten notes aren't perfect, of course. For one, they're difficult to search through—few people are willing to carry a stack of paper-based notes around with them on the off-chance they might need to refer to them! Digital notes also have the advantage of syncing between devices, so you always have them with you—no need to carry around something extra.

So what's a gadget-obsessed geek to do? Get the best of both worlds: convert your handwritten notes to digital when you need to store them for later. There are a lot of ways to do so.

Four Ways to Capture Your Handwritten Notes

Your Smartphone: If you have your phone on hand, you already have a way to convert handwritten notes into a digital format. Evernote and OneNote both do this well. In Evernote, add a new note using your camera, and it'll process your handwriting to make the note searchable (though this may take awhile if you aren't a premium subscriber). OneNote's handwriting recognition is arguably better, though it takes an extra step or two: just create a note with a photo, then in the desktop app, right-click the image to make it searchable.

A Document Scanner: You might feel that snapping photos of notes is a little fiddly, and it's certainly not ideal in every situation. A portable scanner like the Doxie Go provides a couple of ways to scan documents. The scanner is small and light enough to be slung in a bag and carried around, and has rechargeable battery. It can be used in the traditional way, connected to a computer, but the rechargeable battery and built in memory means you can also store scans on the scanner until you are able to connect to a PC or Mac.

It's not suitable for scanning books, but if you have sheets of printed or handwritten notes to scan, it's great. Doxie's OCR only converts printed documents, so if you want to make those handwritten notes searchable, you'll want to import them into something like Evernote or OneNote after scanning them.

A Smart Pen: Of course, you don't have to scan at all if you don't want to. Smart pens like the from LiveScribe 3 (which costs around $150) can record handwriting in digital form as you write. LiveScribe requires you to use special "dot paper" (starting at $15 for 198 pages), but when you're done, you'll have an ink copy of your writing and a digital copy saved to the pen's memory which you can then synchronize with your computer, phone or tablet.

Digitizing text in this way is preferable for some people since it keeps hard copies of notes neatly organized in notebook, while also providing the added benefit of a computer-based copy. Compared to a scanner, using a pen to create an analog and digital copy at the same time is very efficient.

A Tablet and Stylus: Of course, if you have a tablet, they work just as well. Despite the name, graphic tablet and stylus combos are not solely for drawing—they handle writing equally well. Wacom is one of the most renowned names in this field with tablets at various price points (starting at $99), and the styli work with the likes of Microsoft Office and Windows 8's built-in handwriting recognition. The writing-to-text conversion is impressive, and while you may have to spend a little time training Windows to recognize your style, it's something that will pay off.

On a touch screen device such as the Microsoft Surface, Windows will detect that a touchscreen is present. You should see a large keyboard icon in the system tray, but if this is not visible just right click the taskbar and click Toolbars > Touch Keyboard. To get started with handwriting recognition, click the keyboard icon and then click the keyboard button to the lower right of the onscreen keyboard that appears. Click the third icon in the popup menu to switch to handwriting mode.

Use your stylus to write on screen and your handwriting will be converted to printed text as you write. There's no need to print, either, since it can also convert cursive writing.The more you use handwriting recognition, the more accurate it becomes.

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Writing is not dead—far from it—but it has changed change massively in recent years. The act of writing is something many of us are simply out of the habit of doing. Rather than abandoning it altogether in favor of writing solely with a pen, or going to the other extreme and fully embracing paper and ink, combining the two could be way ahead.

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Ask Yourself "Would I Do It Tomorrow?" Before Agreeing to Invitations

We all get invited to do all kinds of things. Whether it's a dinner party or an invitation to speak on a panel, Slate suggests you ask yourself if you'd to it tomorrow before you agree to it.

The idea here is pretty simple. We agree to do stuff we don't actually want to do in the future because it's far away. We think we'll have time to get everything in order, but more often than not, that's not the case. Slate's suggestion is pretty straightforward:

Anytime anyone invites you to do anything, ask yourself this question before you accept: Would I do it tomorrow?

That's it—those five words. Not: Would I do it on some theoretical day in the future? This is the crucial question: Would I upend whatever I am doing tomorrow so that I can got here and do that...

When you get the invitation, pay no attention at all to its far-flung date: Move it mentally to tomorrow.

Obviously you'll still have plenty of invitations you want to plan for, but Slate's point is that this is a great way catch yourself from agreeing to do something you really don't want to.

Before You Accept Any Invitation... | Slate

Photo by Tracy Hunter

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Deadspin Take The Sports Knowledge Test Given To Wannabe ESPN Employees | Gawker Working at Vice Med

Deadspin Take The Sports Knowledge Test Given To Wannabe ESPN Employees | Gawker Working at Vice Media Is Not As Cool As It Seems | io9 The Weirdest And Silliest Virtual Reality Sex Scenes Of All Time [NSFW] | Jalopnik Unmasking The Columbia River's Mysterious Stealth Boats

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Turn a Crate into a Bike Rack and Shelf

If you have a wooden crate available, you can make a nifty bike holder complete with a shelf for your helmet or other stuff.

The picture above, posted by Kelli B, pretty much says it all. (If you're concerned about scratched from the wood, you could probably just cover the holes with some foam or other soft material.)

Kelli B bike shelf | Sightline Daily via Homedit

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