Lifehacker readers share tips for quickly becoming a "regular", improving your writing on unlined paper, and unlocking your car stereo.
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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 or email it to tips at lifehacker.com.
Use Two-Dollar Bills to Be Remembered
Brian shares a way to help restaurant servers remember you:
Next time you go to the bank, ask for two-dollar bills in place of your normal cash-back fare. The next time you eat out or enjoy a happy-hour with friends, you can pay a normal, standard tip amount, but pay it with Thomas Jeffersons. You might be the "Two-Dollar-Bill Guy," but that also means you're no longer "Anonymous Customer Number Three-Hundred."
Just make sure—whatever you do—don't be "Cheap Tipper Guy, Who Now Gets Spitty Food."
Recover Your Car Stereo Security Code
Photo by Ubi Desperare Nescio.
Colin wrote in with a tip for recovering a car stereo security code:
The car I'd bought second hand recently had the battery disconnected during repair work. As a result the car radio required a security code to be entered—which I didn't have. A quick call to the original showroom service department, where they often record the code before servicing, saved paying an independent person to decode it.
Use a Clipboard to Write More Neatly
Photo by In Veritas Lux.
Jake tells us how to write neater by writing smaller:
If I am writing on a notepad for a task list or whatever, I will tear off the sheet I am writing on, make sure the first sheet on the notepad is a blank one, and then put the torn off sheet on top of the notepad, and clip it with my clipboard so that the lines from the blank sheet underneath come through halfway between the lines on the page I'm writing on. This lets me see a 'fake' line that I can use for the tops of my letters and helps me keep my handwriting from getting out of control (too big).
You could also put a sheet of lined paper behind a blank piece of paper to keep your writing lined up.
Enable Streaming Audio Recording in Windows Vista
Jaime lets us know where to go in Vista to allow recording whatever is playing through your speakers:
Vista blocks the WaveOutMix by default. So using a program like Audacity you can't record streaming audio like I'm able to using XP. The simple fix is going to the control panel. Click sounds, then go to the Recording tab. Right click and check show disabled devices. Now the WaveOutMix shows and all you have to do is enable it. Now you can use any recording device to record what is playing back on your computer.
Cut Brownies with a Plastic Knife
Photo by jessicafm.
Renee offers a tip for cutting brownies:
This works for homemade brownies or store-bought, especially warm and right out of the oven: Use a plastic knife. If you order take-out enough, save a knife and keep it handy for brownie emergencies.
Apparently, the brownies don't stick as much to the plastic, so you get better looking brownies that aren't shredded on the edges.