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Comment by sliverstorm | Hacker News Reader

I kind of wish "life hacks" as we know them today could be replaced with a simple set of tricks, such as "melt a pen cap to remove weird screws" or "blanch onions to make peeling them easier". A blending of classic tricks (like the onions) and modern tricks (pen cap).

99% chance you don't need a cell phone turned on 24x7

Agreed, my phone automatically powers off at 11PM and on at 7:30AM, and I barely ever notice. I do notice the improved battery life though.

99% chance you don't need a stupid GPS guiding what you do, where you drive

While true, the cost of a GPS unit is so low it is easy to throw one in the glove box for that 1% when you do need it.

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I realize this question is entirely contrary to the OP's point, but I really must know: how do you get your phone to automatically turn off and on? It must be a hardware feature, and not an app, right?

Heh, this is a $20 dumbphone from AT&T (Huawei U2800A). It is probably a hardware feature, PC RTC wakeup style. Not sure if the various appphones can wake up at a time, though there ought to be apps or settings to shut down at a time.

On Android I doubt you can completely shut the phone down and wake it up again, but you can certainly kill the network on timers.

There are the more complicated battery saving apps that do stuff like kill 3G while your screen is off and overnight.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=be1ay.flymode&... would be a pretty simple way of solving the problem too.

I do nearly the same thing, just with flight-mode from 1am to 7am. N900 event editor.

However, I agree with the parent to some extent; I could live just fine without tech for as long as required, but on the other hand the information super-firehose is fun and stimulating in ways a walk in the park just isn't. Keyword: moderation.

My 3-year-old Japanese dumb phone does that. It's a pretty common feature.

That's what Lifehacker used to be about. I don't know what it's about now since I can't see anything in the flood of posts.

Hey! Getting my app to do something of questionable utility in a completely stereotypical but pretty-looking way featured on Lifehacker is the keystone of my marketing plan!

>While true, the cost of a GPS unit is so low it is easy to throw one in the glove box for that 1% when you do need it.

They used to have these things calls "maps" that performed this job really really well. I think they were $10 for a really good one.

Haven't seen one of them in ages.

I personally find a GPS unit (or, now, a GPS app on my phone) to be way more convenient than a map. Safer, too, since I can pay more attention to the actual driving.

Sure, but the original point was about need, not convenience. Personally, I use google maps on my phone, since it's always in my pocket anyway.

"Need" is a difficult word to work with, here. Do you "need" electricity? Your ancestors got by fine without it. Beyond air, water, and food, you don't really need anything.

Also basic shelter. Often underrated when blocking out needs.

I have several in my car, and I make use of them. I find they are great for navigating freeways, but GPS is better in-town, particularly for locating an arbitrary house address or a business by name.

The best hack I know is to shake a head of garlic between two bowls for about 30 seconds to peel every single clove!

I've never heard the pen cap thing before. That, sir, is genius.

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