Life Hacks – Spoken Edition

There’s no denying that using Amazon’s Kindle is easy. A few years ago; however, it was a little too easy when it came to making in-app purchases, and a ton of kids managed to run up high bills on Mom and Dad’s credit card without anyone realizing until it was too late. Recently, the FTC announced that it will be offering refunds for some of those unauthorized purchases, specifically in-app purchases that happened on Amazon devices between November 2011 and May 2016.

There was a day a few years ago where I received 1000 emails. I’m super careful about using my email address on online forms and what not, but every single time I go to a conference or attend an industry event I somehow manage to get signed up for another dozen or so related lists thanks to someone passing out my deets. No matter how careful you are, if you’re not diligent it’s easy for your inbox to spiral out of control.

The last time I checked my spam folder, I noticed a few messages included an unsubscribe link. Well that’s nice, I thought. Maybe spammers realize that some people will never respond, so they want to trim their lists for efficiency. I clicked “unsubscribe.” That was a mistake. While “legit companies” honor unsubscribe requests, says the McAfee Labs blog, “shady” ones just use the unsubscribe buttons to confirm your address and send you more spam.

If you travel by airplane often, you know the hassle of waiting in lines. That’s why TSA PreCheck is a lifesaver. We’ve already reported on whether paying extra for Global Entry and TSA PreCheck is worth it, but it’s also important to note that not every airline accepts it.

Microsoft’s cleverly integrated a fingerprint reader into its latest keyboard accessory, but removed some important aspects of what makes their line of keyboards easy to use. It’s great for quick logins, and definitely looks cool, but typing on it might not be the most comfortable experience. Made for one click logins The new $129 Modern Keyboard features a smartly disguised fingerprint sensor to the right of the right-hand Alt key.

Productivity is an ever-evolving study of what works and what doesn't. The way we work can change at a rapid-fire pace and what was accepted as a best practice in years past, can now do more harm than good. The team at 99U focuses on the creative insights we didn't get in school which, sometimes, means we have to unlearn habits that were previously perceived as being "good." Below are some tips that go against the grain of typical productivity advice.

Pride month is in full swing, and Google Maps is making it easier to discover your local Pride events, or navigate around them. Throughout the rest of June, Google Maps will show the locations and routes of all Pride parades in 35 cities around the world, including San Francisco, Rome, New York City, Paris, Chicago, Sao Paulo, Houston, and more. Google Maps will also be dynamically rerouting all drivers around event locations.

“Can I buy you a coffee and pick your brain?” What caused this delusion among the advice-needing people of the world that the going rate for an hour-long professional consultation is a three-dollar beverage? Why do we all try this early in our careers (and if we work in biz dev, our middle and late careers)? I think it’s that in our early twenties, most of us haven’t realized how generic we seem to everyone we look up to, nor how much busier those people are.

On Tuesday, the TSA announced a pilot program using new biometric technology to replace boarding passes and IDs with quick fingerprint scans. Fingerprint check-ins are being tested at the Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport and the Denver International Airport for people enrolled in TSA Precheck. If all goes well, these scans will automate and speed up the check-in process.

I’m indifferent about my cell carrier’s family plan. It’s fine, it works, I pay them, whatever. But getting me to change my plan requires more than just a discount on the next iPhone. I think Sprint knows that, and is offering a pretty ballsy deal for Verizon customers looking for a way out. A free year of service with unlimited data. What’s hilarious is that Sprint is generally looked at as a not-so-great carrier.

Welcome back to Mid-Week Meditations, Lifehacker’s weekly dip into the pool of stoic wisdom, and how you can use its waters to reflect on and improve your life. This week’s stoic quote comes from the Greek philosopher Epictetus, who was born a slave and had his teachings written down by one of his pupils. Those writings would eventually become his Discourses and Enchiridion. “It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.

You know that you need to replace your smoke detector’s batteries when they run out, but you might not realize that you should also replace the smoke detector itself every 10 years as the sensors wear down. Yes, even your fancy Nest detector falls under this guideline.

Microsoft’s further blurring the distinction between local and cloud storage with a file-syncing feature letting you treat online files like offline ones. The feature, Files On-Demand, lets you access your cloud storage as though they were local files without having to indefinitely store them. The feature is perfect for Windows users on ultrabooks with small amounts of storage. On-demand access to cloud files is new to Microsoft, but the storage-friendly feature isn’t unheard of.

Using your phone to scan documents isn’t anything new. With apps like Scanner Pro and Turbo Scan out there, if you own a smartphone there’s pretty much no reason you need to break out the ol’ flatbed scanner to digitize anything anymore. Heck, even just snapping a photo of a document sans app could probably get the job done in most cases.

Ever wanted to go on a date with a stranger without messaging them first? Me neither, but First, a new dating app launched today, wants to make that happen. Unlike Tinder and Bumble, there’s no swiping involved. Instead, people connect First to their Facebook accounts and look for posted dates from an open feed. People can search for dates through categories like movie, food, and drinks. There is even an option to search by who is paying (including a 50/50 split option).