Readers offer their best tips for creating a DIY charging station, using rewards cards effectively, and blacklisting regular calls from wrong numbers.
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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, email it to tips at lifehacker.com, or share it on our tips and expert pages.
Make a DIY Charging Station Out of Scotch Tape
Grant shows us his dead simple DIY charging station:
I've been using a cardboard cutout as a 'nightstand' with a charging cable and speaker connector for a while now, but I just now realized a simpler and more stylish solution: using a single piece of double-sided tape (and a bit of Scotch for good measure), I made a nice dock for my Zune to sit on as my alarm clock. It should work for just about anything, as long as it's thin enough and the charging cord doesn't yank on it too much (I filed down the prongs on mine).
Use Fake, Near-Holiday Birthdays for Reward Cards
Photo by Duncan Gough.
Michael.Stonis lets us know an easy way to make rewards more relevant:
When signing-up for rewards cards or reward programs, give a date around a holiday as your birthday (instead of your actual birthday). This way if they offer a free ticket or coupon, you can use it when it is probably more relevant.
Blacklist Constant Wrong Numbers with a Google Voice Contact
Jason tells us how he avoids callers that always have the wrong number:
With the addition of my Google Voice number, I have been getting more and more wrong number calls. Some of these calls, for some reason, are repeats. This one idiot continues to call my phone every week now. So, I added his phone number to a new contact called "Wrong Number" along with a few other callers that apparently have the same mental deficiency. In Android I can edit that contact and send those numbers straight to voicemail. I'm sure I could block numbers added to that contact, but voicemail is sufficient for me as they don't seem to leave any messages.
We've featured a similar tip before, but this method works even if you don't have an Android phone.
Use Extra Tortillas to Avoid Messy Sandwiches
Photo by Jessica Spengler.
Isaaclyman tells us how to keep large sandwiches from being messy:
I make a lot of juicy sandwiches. To keep them from spilling all over my plate (or lap), I wrap a tortilla, taco-style, around the opposite end of my sandwich. Then I fold in the right and left sides and chow down. It works for takeout, too—if you like plenty of Horsey Sauce on your roast beef, just pack a tortilla. Once you wrap it, you can hold it one-handed (which is great for driving).
Note: Lifehacker does not advocate eating sandwiches while driving...