Upgrade Your Life, the Lifehacker book's 2nd edition Google Group

Re: [Lifehacker book 2.0] Re: Updated the book's web site

samhe...@googlemail.com (Sam Healer) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:57:42 UT

Hmm. IMHO, skill level is as important as operating system. Could there be a
way to do both? Perhaps, some kind of "Sort by..." function?
On Fri, Mar 14, 2008 at 9:52 PM, Gina Trapani @ Lifehacker <

Re: [Lifehacker book 2.0] Re: Updated the book's web site

lifehacker.edi...@gmail.com (Gina Trapani @ Lifehacker) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:52:15 UT

Yes--well, mostly. I've got more links and notes to add, but the new
chapters are all there.
Excellent.
Fair point... I was thinking about ditching cost entirely, and just
going with skill level. But maybe just operating system... I don't
want to complicate things, but I do want to show that the book is

Re: Updated the book's web site

rzcash...@gmail.com (RZCashman) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 16:20:00 UT

[1 QUESTION]
1) is the website updated with content from the new book?

[2 COMMENTS]
2) I think sorting by operating system is a good idea.

3) I think sorting by user skill level and/or cost is a bad idea and
would only complicate the web site.

Updated the book's web site

lifehacker.edi...@gmail.com (Gina Trapani, Lifehacker editor/author) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 05:26:13 UT

Hi all,

I just updated the book's official web site to reflect the new table
of contents, title, and cover design.

[link]

I have a few ideas of ways I'd like to make the site more useful:
like adding the ability to sort hacks by operating system, user skill
level, and cost. What else? Let me know what you think.

Upgrade Your Life now shipping from Amazon

lifehacker.edi...@gmail.com (Gina Trapani, Lifehacker editor/author) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:45:36 UT

Hi everyone! I'm thrilled to announce that the second edition of the
Lifehacker book is now shipping from Amazon. Here's a link:

[link]

I did mention this mailing list in the book acknowledgements, but I
wanted to tell you all personally how much I appreciate your time and

Re: [Lifehacker book 2.0] Re: Lifehacker book cover design finalized

lifehacker.edi...@gmail.com (Gina Trapani @ Lifehacker) — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 00:54:27 UT

Thanks everyone!
No CD ROM, sadly. But the book has a companion web site
(lifehackerbook.com) with hyperlinks there. :)

Re: Lifehacker book cover design finalized

christyan...@gmail.com (Christy-Ann) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 13:59:44 UT

It looks great! I can't wait to get my copy!

Re: [Lifehacker book 2.0] Re: Lifehacker book cover design finalized

labor...@gmail.com — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 01:18:09 UT

Will the be a searchable cd rom set cretaed for this book. The Journal of Light Construction does this and it is an awesome tool.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

-----Original Message-----

To:"Lifehacker book 2.0" <lifehackerbook2@googlegroups. com>

Woohoo! Lookin' hot!

If I was a book, I would buy that book a drink!

Re: Lifehacker book cover design finalized

frymysmo...@gmail.com (Smokey B) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 01:12:01 UT

Woohoo! Lookin' hot!

If I was a book, I would buy that book a drink!

On Feb 5, 4:47 pm, "Gina Trapani, Lifehacker editor/author"

Lifehacker book cover design finalized

lifehacker.edi...@gmail.com (Gina Trapani, Lifehacker editor/author) — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 21:47:40 UT

Hi all,

It's been forever since I've posted here because I've been busy
finishing off the book manuscript and hammering out the cover design.
Check out the final cover, which is now up on Amazon:

[link]

Designing a book cover is a delicate dance between marketer, author,

Re: Merry Christmas

tokyodwel...@gmail.com (Weems) — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 07:19:46 UT

Its all in the sense of the word.

On Dec 25 2007, 3:26 pm, "ed samir fonseca" <doncan...@gmail.com>
wrote:

Re: [Lifehacker book 2.0] Re: Merry Christmas

doncan...@gmail.com (ed samir fonseca) — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 21:26:02 UT

Blastin out tunes to annoy people is productive!...or maybe that's just me

Re: Merry Christmas

tokyodwel...@gmail.com (Weems) — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 21:19:33 UT

Merry Christmas! I got some nice new 5.1 Logitech speakers. Ill try to
use them "productively".

On Dec 25, 5:33 am, "leif.dal...@gmail.com" <leif.dal...@gmail.com>
wrote:

Re: Merry Christmas

leif.dal...@gmail.com (leif.daland@gmail.com) — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 11:33:17 UT

Yes, happy holidays to all. I'm really looking forward to get some new
updated details regarding the progress one the book. But, as samhealer
says, do try to reduce the hard work during the holidays ;)

On Dec 24, 9:37 pm, "Gina Trapani @ Lifehacker"

Re: [Lifehacker book 2.0] Merry Christmas

lifehacker.edi...@gmail.com (Gina Trapani @ Lifehacker) — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 05:37:30 UT

Yes indeed, happy holidays everyone! I've made lots of progress on
the book I'm going to tell you all about... after Christmas. :)
Thanks again for your interest and involvement at Lifehacker, and have
a fantastic holiday!
Best,
Gina

Merry Christmas

samhe...@googlemail.com (samhealer) — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 13:13:00 UT

I'd just like to wish everyone on this group a great holiday, and a
happy new year. Gina - don't work too hard over Christmas :-)

Re: Idea: Have different sections?

ashers...@gmail.com (Asher) — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 19:11:32 UT

Instead of referring to websites in the book i would find it easier if
u had the links on the site. Since I go to lifehacker regularly mabey
additionaly to how you referred to the posts on the books' website you
can also put links mentioned in the book

On Nov 30, 12:20 pm, "Gina Trapani @ Lifehacker"

Re: Book now on Amazon, and progress update

lifehacker.edi...@gmail.com (Gina Trapani @ Lifehacker) — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 23:40:56 UT

My publisher would probably hate me saying this, but yes, at this
point it's probably better to wait for the second edition. It'll
start shipping on March 17th, 2008.
Yes! It's listed on amazon.co.uk and available for pre-order:
[link]

Re: Book now on Amazon, and progress update

paolo.ciarroc...@gmail.com (Paolo C.) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 14:20:39 UT

On 2 Ott, 21:27, "Gina Trapani, Lifehacker editor/author"

Hi Gina,

I was wondering whether to buy the first edition but I know think it's
better to just
wait for the second edition.

I live in Europe so I wonder whether you know if it's already possible
to
pre-order it via amazon.co.uk or any other European bookseller.

Re: [Lifehacker book 2.0] Re: Money Saving Tips

doncan...@gmail.com (ed samir fonseca) — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 18:50:13 UT

Retailmenot.com is especially good for that :)

Re: Money Saving Tips

davec...@gmail.com (davecort@gmail.com) — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 18:24:46 UT

One money-saving hack I really like is doing a simple web search for
"›web site name‹ coupon code" when you're about to make an online
purchase. I find that over 50% of the time I find a site that has a
valid coupon code that I can apply to my purchase and save a few
bucks. I just did that with an order from yesasia.com and got $5 off

Re: [Lifehacker book 2.0] Re: Productivity in your work with multiple machines

lifehacker.edi...@gmail.com (Gina Trapani @ Lifehacker) — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 20:28:27 UT

Ah, good question! There isn't a series planned (yet?) so I'm
honestly not sure right now. Personally, I prefer writing the web
site over writing the book, so it may be awhile before I embark on a
new book project.
AFAIK, single or dual authorship is the way it has to go with
traditional publishers, anyway (unless you're editing a compilation,

Re: [Lifehacker book 2.0] Re: Idea: Have different sections?

lifehacker.edi...@gmail.com (Gina Trapani @ Lifehacker) — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 20:20:39 UT

That's a good idea! I did something like this, adding in "Tips"
sections, which interrupting the text saying things like, "For more on
how to do blah blah, visit [link here]." The only bad part about that
is that you can't click on books and typing URLs from a book is the
pits. (Wherever possible I created a TinyURL-like redirect for long

Re: [Lifehacker book 2.0] Re: Productivity in your work with multiple machines

caveat...@gmail.com (Rob Hudson) — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 17:38:55 UT

Maybe I've been going about asking the wrong way..
What's the next LifeHacker book project after this one? Is there a
series planned, or will future books go in new directions?
I'm asking in part because I wonder if there would be opportunities
for others to work in a more formal capacity on the book outside of

Re: [Lifehacker book 2.0] Re: Productivity in your work with multiple machines

lifehacker.edi...@gmail.com (Gina Trapani @ Lifehacker) — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 17:36:22 UT

There may be a demand for that kind of book, but I'm not sure. It's
definitely something to think about!
It is outside the scope of this book, but I would love to see an
applied GTD book come from The David Allen Company. Problem is,
application has so much to do with a person's skill level, environment

Re: [Lifehacker book 2.0] Re: Idea: Have different sections?

caveat...@gmail.com (Rob Hudson) — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:52:54 UT

These might be nice as callouts within book pages - special figures
that sit within the book text.
For example, within a section about using a thumbdrive you might, as
Dave suggests, add a small box on the page with "top ten things to do
with a thumb drive."
This might be a nice way to sneak in more advanced tutorials as links

Re: Idea: Have different sections?

dave.walbri...@gmail.com (comedy writer) — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 15:54:23 UT

In addition to an appendix, why not add some short lists -- like
top ten things to do with a thumb drive? Or Ways to jump -start your
morning?

Dave

Re: Productivity in your work with multiple machines

peter.fitzger...@gmail.com (peter.fitzgerald@gmail.com) — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 14:33:20 UT

Sounds like it might be outside the immediate scope, but maybe if we
prod Gina there's a second book there to be worked on :}

Re: [Lifehacker book 2.0] Re: Productivity in your work with multiple machines

caveat...@gmail.com (Rob Hudson) — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 18:02:59 UT

Do you think there would be a demand for a "super techies" book? Maybe
something that focuses on developers and power users and talks about
home version control, advanced use of macro software like AutoHotkey,
developer communities, etc?
I also wonder if there shouldn't be a book on "office hacks" that has

Re: [Lifehacker book 2.0] Re: Productivity in your work with multiple machines

lifehacker.edi...@gmail.com (Gina Trapani @ Lifehacker) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 07:09:22 UT

Sadly I don't have version control on the roster for the new chapter,
because it's a pretty advanced hack. I love my text files, like you
do, but we're a minority. The main complaint I got about the first
edition (especially regarding the todo.txt hack) was that it's for
"super techies," not as accessible to "regular people," whatever that

Re: [Lifehacker book 2.0] Re: Productivity in your work with multiple machines

caveat...@gmail.com (Rob Hudson) — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 19:07:15 UT

Are you going to mention using version control like TortoiseSVN to
manage source, text, and macro files across multiple computers? I've
found the process indispensable. I don't remember if LH V1 mentioned
personal version control, but anything with text files is a good
application.

Re: [Lifehacker book 2.0] Productivity in your work with multiple machines

lifehacker.edi...@gmail.com (Gina Trapani @ Lifehacker) — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 09:53:36 UT

This is fantastic, thanks Leif. You must be reading my mind, because
the only all-new chapter in the book is on working from and with
multiple computers, and will cover some of this stuff, though Copycat
is new to me. I'll check it out, thanks.

Productivity in your work with multiple machines

leif.dal...@gmail.com (leif.daland@gmail.com) — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 17:59:41 UT

I don't know if this fits in with the plans of this book, but in my
line of work, with several machines at the same time, i've come to
appreciate a couple of programs (3 to be exact) that together not only
brings order to my non-virtual desktop, but also increases my
productivity by easy switching between screens and cooperating across

Re: [Lifehacker book 2.0] Re: Chapter 8 in the can, book in warehouses March 17th

lifehacker.edi...@gmail.com (Gina Trapani @ Lifehacker) — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 00:56:06 UT

Hey thanks a lot Leif, will definitely check out portable Hamachi. :)

Re: Chapter 8 in the can, book in warehouses March 17th

leif.dal...@gmail.com (leif.daland@gmail.com) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 22:29:39 UT

Hi, I realize i'm probably too late for chapter 8, but i'll take my
chances anyway. I see that you have a part that mention hamachi. I've
been using this excellent program for awhile and i stumbled onto some
problems during the use of hamachi with machines that did not offer
admin rights (which basically prevented me from installing hamachi).

Re: Chapter 8 in the can, book in warehouses March 17th

endlessinsan...@gmail.com (Nicholas M.) — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 06:52:52 UT

I shall start saving my cash! Thanks for the update Gina!
On Nov 11, 1:01 am, "peter.fitzger...@gmail.com"

Re: Chapter 8 in the can, book in warehouses March 17th

peter.fitzger...@gmail.com (peter.fitzgerald@gmail.com) — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 06:01:49 UT

Congratulations Gina!
On Nov 9, 2:00 pm, "Gina Trapani, Lifehacker editor/author"

Re: Chapter 8 in the can, book in warehouses March 17th

samhe...@googlemail.com (samhealer) — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 19:07:20 UT

Excellent news, Gina! Thanks for telling us. From the page of chapters
complete, it looks like you've been extremely busy, so well done for
getting so much done so far. Hopefully our suggestions have been
useful to you.
Best of luck working over Thanksgiving.
Sam
On Nov 9, 8:00 pm, "Gina Trapani, Lifehacker editor/author"

Chapter 8 in the can, book in warehouses March 17th

lifehacker.edi...@gmail.com (Gina Trapani, Lifehacker editor/author) — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 20:00:27 UT

Hi all,
Well, it'll be a happy St. Patty's day: my publisher tells me the
book will be shipping from their warehouse on March 17th, barring any
catastrophes. They're cracking the whip on me pretty good so that
date should stick. In the meantime, I just submitted chapter 8 to my
editor, which means I've got 3 more to go.

Re: Book now on Amazon, and progress update

samhe...@googlemail.com (samhealer) — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 07:35:37 UT

Same as Nicholas here, except I'm more excited that excoted :P.
But seriously, 2 weeks ago I got the first book for my birthday, and I
have found it extremely useful. I'm still going through it, but I can
see a few changes you may want to make. I'll make a new topic later
once I've finished it.
Sam

Re: Book now on Amazon, and progress update

endlessinsan...@gmail.com (Nicholas M.) — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 03:04:42 UT

I am super excoted for this. I hope that we all do a great job helping
On Oct 10, 7:05 pm, "Gina Trapani @ Lifehacker"

Re: [Lifehacker book 2.0] Re: Book now on Amazon, and progress update

lifehacker.edi...@gmail.com (Gina Trapani @ Lifehacker) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 23:05:51 UT

Totally understandable. Longevity (and time to market) is a huge
issue with computer books in general, especially the Lifehacker book,
which covers relatively new and still-evolving software and webapps.
I can't tell you how much it personally hurt me to see Google Calendar
get released after the first book went to print but before it hit

Re: [Lifehacker book 2.0] Re: Money Saving Tips

lifehacker.edi...@gmail.com (Gina Trapani @ Lifehacker) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 22:56:42 UT

Good idea. I'm queuing up this post for tomorrow, and will re-mention
the group in the post. Thanks Sam and Smokey. :)

Re: Book now on Amazon, and progress update

peter.fitzger...@gmail.com (peter.fitzgerald@gmail.com) — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 04:08:26 UT

I have to admit that I didn't buy the first book, although I did leaf
through it a long time ago... admittedly quite some time before I
started reading lifehacker.com
In all honesty the main reason I didn't buy the book was that I didn't
see a need for it and felt that it was somewhat dated at the time. At

Re: Book now on Amazon, and progress update

endlessinsan...@gmail.com (Nicholas M.) — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 03:40:55 UT

Goodness! Some interesting activity! Cool, I'm gonna need to check
that out then. I shall resume activity on here as before.

Re: Real Life Hacks

frymysmo...@gmail.com (Smokey B) — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 10:36:58 UT

Plus, getting you brain into a daily habit will make these "mind
hacks" more natural and before you know it, it'll be just like
breathing.

Re: Book now on Amazon, and progress update

samhe...@googlemail.com (samhealer) — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 09:27:39 UT

Woo! I got mentioned :)
Seriously though, great news.The new title is great,seperates it from
the other book, but keeps it kind of the same. Also, will the cover be
much different from the original?
It's my birthday in a few days and I'm getting the first book, so
I'll be able to comment much more on how it could be improved.

Re: [Lifehacker book 2.0] Re: Real Life Hacks

samhe...@googlemail.com (samhealer) — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 09:22:27 UT

A section on "mind hacks", interesting. Might want to include
something about forcing yourself to turn of you computer? Maybe
something about restricting your internet access.
Actually, I recall something on LifeHacker a while ago about
restricting access, and forcing breaks, something like that?
Sam

Re: Money Saving Tips

samhe...@googlemail.com (samhealer) — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 09:16:12 UT

Gina (and Smokey, of course)
I notice you haven't posted it to the site yet. Maybe you could also
advertise the group again with this post?
Shows that suggestions are being read, listened to, etc.
Just a thought
Sam

Re: Book now on Amazon, and progress update

lifehacker.edi...@gmail.com (Gina Trapani, Lifehacker editor/author) — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 14:57:25 UT

On Oct 4, 7:04 am, "peter.fitzger...@gmail.com"
Since this is a revision, any specific requests or additions that
readers have about the first book are most helpful. I know what *I'd*
like to revise, but I want to make sure that I'm adding and updating
the stuff readers want to see.
Also, any thoughts on why or why not you bought the first book, or