Rubbing Alcohol, Hidden Wi-Fi, and Google Docs Conversions

Readers offer their best tips for breaking the seal on drug store bottles, finding hidden Wi-Fi networks, and converting documents for Google Drive.


Rubbing Alcohol, Hidden Wi-Fi, and Google Docs Conversions

Poke a Hole in Rubbing Alcohol Bottles Instead of Removing the Entire Seal

Andrew Pierson avoids major spillage with a simple trick:

When opening bottles like rubbing alcohol, poke a tiny hole rather than tearing off the whole seal to make for easier application and less evaporation.

Rubbing Alcohol, Hidden Wi-Fi, and Google Docs Conversions

Use In-Store Devices to Find Hidden Wi-Fi Networks

Dyan654 seeks out Wi-Fi at electronics stores:

If you need to look-up a product on the internet at Best Buy or a similar store and don't have cell service, it makes sense to use the store's Wi-Fi. However, the SSID is generally hidden, and if you just have a cell phone, it's unlikely you can use any software to find it. Instead, hit up one of the stores iPads or laptops to find the SSID. Problem Solved.

Photo by Adam Tinworth.

Rubbing Alcohol, Hidden Wi-Fi, and Google Docs Conversions

Open Files with Google Docs in Two Clicks

Ajcord shares a quick Google Docs trick newbies might not know:

I found out an easy way to convert Office files to Google Docs format once they have already been uploaded to Google Drive. Just right click on the uploaded file, go to Open with, and click Google Docs. It will automatically convert the file and open it for editing instead of opening the original Office file as read-only.

Some of you Google experts might already know this one, but it's pretty handy for those that don't use Docs a lot.

Rubbing Alcohol, Hidden Wi-Fi, and Google Docs Conversions

Motivate Yourself to Inbox Zero with a Good Gmail Background

Alisia Revitt finds simple motivation to empty her inbox:

I use gmail's custom background to put a picture with the interesting part roughly in the middle/bottom of the screen. The placement of the action matters: that way, if emails backup in my inbox, they cover the interesting part of the picture, so I want to deal with messages and get them out of my inbox so it's unobstructed. I've attached an example of my work inbox with grumpy cat as an example. (This has the added bonus of making me laugh every time I look at my inbox.)

This relies on being slightly obsessive, but that's a pretty standard Lifehacker attribute! It's so subtle that it took me a few weeks to realize I was doing better at clearing, then a while to figure out why.