Lifehacker

Readers offer their best tips for phones that keep searching for signal, a new iTunes mini-player, and cheap gaming mousepad solutions. More »

This week we made the most of your external hard drives, cleaned out our laptops before turning them in to IT, put together the ultimate exercise playlist, and more. More »

Netflix lets its staff take as many vacation days as they want, and they can take them whenever they want, and according to news site The Telegraph, it works. Now we're wondering: How much vacation time do you get every year? More »

If you need to edit some video away from your home, free web-based video editor JayCut will likely get your project going, whether you need simple cutting and pasting or text, transitions, and impromptu audio recording. More »

OK, maybe not "dogs" plural, but the (regular size) creator of this tiny grill, made from an Altoids Sours tin, says it can cook a small hamburger or a single hot dog, cut down to size, with ease. Awwww. More »

iOS 4.0 was so slow on our 3G, we promptly downgraded after updating. Earlier this week, Apple announced, among other things, that iOS 4.1 fixed performance on the iPhone 3G. We put their claim to the test. More »

Android: If you prefer to use your Android as hands-free as possible, Taskos is a voice-driven to-do list manager that supports contexts, alarms, dialer integration and more. More »

Whether you're trying to increase your security at an internet café, tunnel your way to your home computer from your cubicle, or leave no trace on your friend's borrowed computer, a flash drive turned portable privacy toolkit is invaluable. More »

Still hotter than you'd like this late in the summer? We're serving out scoops of your favorite productivity ice cream in this week's open thread. More »

You want to transfer a file to a friend but IM transfer has failed, it's too big for email, or somebody is behind a firewall. Head over to Dushare where you can transfer peer-to-peer via browser, as fast as you can upload. More »

Lifehacker reader HeadsetChatter was tired of forgetting mail that needed to go out, so he turned some cheap office supples into highly visible front-door reminder. More »

Google has announced that despite Wave's demise as a Google App, its open source code will continue to be developed into a fully-functional application available to anyone with the desire to host it. More »

iOS: If you want to know how long you'll be waiting for your next table or how long it'll take to gain access to a club, just search for your destination on WaitList and find out. More »

If you're doing some major overhauling of your space, be it decluttering your closet or remodeling your office, it pays to skip the dumpster and donate as much as you can. More »

Mac only: Unhappy with the way iTunes 10 moved your window controls around? Make iTunes look like your other windows again with a one-shot Terminal command. More »

An early look at the next release of Ubuntu's Linux desktop hit the web late yesterday. What's in 10.10, or "Maverick Meerkat," for desktop users? Besides app updates, there's a new photo manager, improved multimedia controls, better Ubuntu One syncing, and more. More »

iOS/Windows/Mac/Linux: Free service Notifo is a kitchen sink of push notifications for your iPhone or desktop, pushing Twitter updates, your favorite RSS feeds, Google Voice alerts, and more straight to your iPhone or desktop notification utility. And it's extremely hackable. More »

Lots of stores are looking to make space for their big fall inventory push, and everything left over from summer is going cheap. Time to look into cars, appliances, holiday airfare, and other good buys in September. More »

You can get extra Gmail storage pretty cheaply from Google, but eagle-eyed reader gthing lets us know that you have read access to that storage even after you cancel your subscription. More »

Computers have made to-do list management radically easier, but a to-do list that is anchored to your desk isn't a particularly effective one. This week we want to hear about your favorite mobile to-do list manager. More »