From the Tips Box: Alarm Phones, Ad-Free Radio, and Dressing Productively [From The Tips Box]
Author: Tiffany Shoman
Readers offer their best tips for using old smartphones as feature-rich alarm clocks, listening to internet radio without the Flash ads, and a dress code for getting things done.
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About the Tips Box: Every day we receive boatloads of great reader tips in our inbox, but for various reasons—maybe they’re a bit too niche, maybe we couldn’t find a good way to present it, or maybe we just couldn’t fit it in—the tip didn’t make the front page. From the Tips Box is where we round up some of our favorites for your buffet-style consumption. Got a tip of your own to share? Add it in the comments, share it here, or email it to tips at lifehacker.com.
Use an Old Smartphone as an Alarm Clock
Photo by Dmitry Baranovskiy.
Jeff finds new uses for his smartphones after he’s upgraded to a newer model:
I recently picked up a Motorola Droid and hated the idea of throwing away my old (though still fully functional) BlackBerry Pearl. After activating the Droid, I was pleasantly surprised to notice that the Pearl still displayed the current time. Apparently even though the service has been disconnected, the Pearl still picks up the time from Verizon’s network. (Maybe this is so the phone still has access to emergency services?)
I realized that the Pearl could serve as a fully-functional alarm clock, which has been awesome for a number of reasons:
1. The alarm on the Pearl can be set to make any number of annoying and startling noises.
2. More excitingly, the microSD card can be loaded up with music, and and any song can be used as an alarm.
3. The Pearl has many more features than my old alarm clock, such as the music playback, automatically-updated time, and unlike my old alarm, the time won’t reset in a power outage.
4. The Pearl is so much smaller than my other alarm clock. Less clutter = good.
5. I don’t have to make sure that my current working phone, the Droid, lands near my bed at the end of the night. The Pearl stays plugged in, so the Droid can be left anywhere at night.I’ve been using the Pearl as my sole alarm for awhile now, and the only downside I can see is that, unless I hang it on the way and keep the screen lit, the time can’t be seen at night. This hasn’t been a problem for me because it makes the room darker, but it might bother some.
Hope this prevents some people from trashing a perfectly good smartphone.
If not being able to see the clock bothers you, many phones have the ability to keep the backlight on when being charged or in a dock, or even apps that act as an always-on clock display. This will obviously shorten the life of the display, but if you were about to toss it anyway, you’ve got nothing to lose!
Play Internet Radio Without Banner Ads
TehBeardMan shows us a neat workaround for keeping the Flash down when listening to radio:
I like listening to Pandora online radio as well as Slacker radio. But sometimes the ads on the sites are a bit annoying. Ignoring the obvious of using a adblocker, you can look at the source of the page and find the URL for the flash music player and make that your bookmark.
For example, here is Slacker’s music player, free from all the banner ads and such.
And here is Pandora’s latest one.
Both on a nice and clean page by themselves.
(I know pandora has a similar option built in for the mini-player but I like everything in one window)
As always, we encourage you to leave the ads alone, since that’s how sites like Pandora and Slacker (and us, for that matter), are able to stay free—but, of course, we also know how much of a resource hog Flash can be, so if you’re on battery or a computer with low specs, this is a nice way to keep yourself running a bit smoother.
Dress Up to Focus and Get Things Done
Photo by Kai Hendry.
Bonsai_haicyon tells us how he keeps his focus when it’s time to get work done:
When trying to study up for a midterm or buckle down on the paper due tomorrow, you might find it helpful to dress up a little, instead of wearing your sweats.
I had a college roommate who would put on a jacket and tie when he had to cram for a midterm or final – dressing nicely helped put him in the right frame of mind for Getting Things Done. It’s all mental.
This may not be for everyone, and may seem like a strange tip—but I can definitely back this up for some. It’s why I don’t own sweats…I feel like I should be watching TV with the flu when I wear them.
Use Old Containers and Sharpies to Keep Track of Collar Stays
Photo by Guilherme Torelly .
mahfrot shows us his favorite collar stay wrangler:
I found myself continually losing collar stays whenever I’d take them out to wash my dress shirts. I’m sure there’s a million other options out there, but I found using an old Altoids tin the perfect size. Also, to make sure I remember which stays go to which shirt, I write on the back of the stays in Sharpie the colors or patterns on the shirt.
Props to Lifehacker
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Tags: 
I never consider radio ads. I typically leave then running in the background, never to be seen.
Reutnes
Did anybody else have to Google “collar stays” to know what the heck they were? Thank God I work from home, that’s all I have to say…
gullymprictr
This is why my wardrobe consists of polos and khaki pants.
Oh wait, my bad, that’s the school’s dress code. Still do it anyhow, khaki’s are comfortable, as are the polos.
AtomFury
Although I do like the idea of re-purposing and old phone as an alarm clock. The writer of this tip has a Droid. Get the desk dock and when you put the phone into the dock at night, it jumps right to the bedside clock app.
Besides, why wouldn’t you want your phone next to you at night? What if you got a booty text at 3am? =)
rckymtnrfc
I love the suit idea!
iamjames
@penguiniator: If you run Ubuntu, the nipple doesn’t drift (like it does with the windoze drivers)
SigmundTheSeaMonster
@fiji.siv: Exactly. I don’t know why people love sweats so much…or even pajamas. I’m only comfortable if I feel like I am dressed and actually ready for a real day. If I just wear my pajamas all day, I feel like I just woke up…all day.
The mind is a strange thing.
Whitson Gordon
@shalegac: Ooo, I like this one too! Good idea.
Whitson Gordon
Since I had my Xperia X1, my W810i now serves as a full fledged alarm clock/emergency phone/additional camera/music player/whatever I want it to be.
I’ve been doing some hacking on that little dude and I haven’t done anything interesting, yet…
zaghy2zy
#3. Or you could just pop a shit load of Adderall and off you go to glory!!
Son-of-MonsterChalk
@kettlewhistle: Well, I’ve only been using it for a few days, however so far I am impressed.
Setup was a slight hassle, because I didn’t provide the account PIN when filling out the online number port form. (It isn’t marked required… but it is if you have one!) I called to check on things, and the process was very straightforward.
Support was helpful every time I called. I called a second time, because I wanted to deactivate the notice that stated my balance every time I made a call. That took a couple of minutes, and was fixed, no problem.
It is on Verizon’s network, just re-branded, so the network quality is incredible.
The big draw for me was price. I had something like 400 minutes, 100 texts, and the silly phone insurance totaling out at around $64 a month. I now have 1000 minutes, 1000 texts, and 30mb of data for roughly half that. I don’t get free nights and weekends… but if I get close to that 1000 minutes in a month, $45 + tax the next month and I have unlimited talk and text. That is still about $15 cheaper than what I’m currently paying.
I wasn’t clear what would happen if I went through all my minutes. Do I pay another $30 for 1000 more minutes? Do I pay $15 to “upgrade” my amount for a month and get unlimited? I don’t know. Worst case scenario, I pay a total of $60+tax for 2000 minutes, and I can’t imagine going through that. That’s no more than I paid to Verizon. The next month, I go to the $45 level and get unlimited talk and text. If I know I’m going to make a lot of calls in a month, I’ll just plan ahead and pay the higher amount.
I had to pay $30 for a phone, but halving my monthly bill will more than take care of that.
You have to buy a new card every 30 days, they expire after that, it really is a monthly PLAN, however I don’t care to deal with refilling. I did the auto-refill thing online, so every 30 days I get billed that $32 for the lower tier card. If you hardly ever use your cell phone, a true pay as you go plan might wind up being more cost-effective. If you want a monthly rate, this is great.
There’s no service center to go to if you have a problem, but I can’t think of the last time I’ve needed to go to a Verizon store.
Tethering isn’t allowed in the terms of service, so that’s not really an option. I never had that option, so I’m not missing it.
So long as you only need a dumbphone, I’d say it looks to be about the best deal in town.
Sorry for the wall of text…
tramusen
I prefer to sell my old smartphone and use a fraction of the proceeds for some alarm clock solution (actually, I use my current smartphone).
Seems like a big waste of money to turn a smartphone into an alarm clock instead of selling it.
chefmitch
@tramusen: What’s your opinion of StraightTalk so far? I’ve been thinking about switching.
kettlewhistle
@tramusen: Micro is the one.
camneil01
@Dizzy: ditto on the ‘thinking cap’. It’s how I get any writing done.
camneil01
@xCoolJackx: Im just saying its funny how more than a few things that are posted on Lifehacker nowadays imply that I have alot of expensive things just lying around.
ruffus910
The dress-up tip is entirely psychological sure, but it’s helpful. A lot of experts also suggest dressing up to make important phone calls like job interviews.
I personally have a small “thinking cap,” that I keep in my briefcase. When I take it out, it’s a reminder to myself and a warning to others that I’m focused on problem-solving.
Dizzy
Old dumbphones also work for this. I just switched to StraightTalk from Verizon, and got a new phone as part of that process. The old one is too banged up to sell, but it makes a great alarm clock. Great for traveling, too. Both use the newer (micro? Is that it?) usb port, so I can just take one adapter.
tramusen
I use an old prescription pill bottle for collar stays and another for extra buttons. They are the perfect height.
shalegac
@orbitbreak: You must learn to love the nipple.
penguiniator
@OMG! Ponies!: Metal stays are great, but make sure that if you buy metal stays, you get quality ones with buffed edges (or have a way to soften them yourself). Cheap stamped brass stays have ruined many a good collar from fraying.
Also, try playing around with using stays of different lengths for different looks. Stays that are a bit too short will keep the collar tips from curling, but also will allow the collar to spread out and relax, giving your shirt a casual but not crumpled look. Stays that are long enough that you can barely turn the collar back down are great for very formal styling, and will keep the collar riding high on your neck.
jhmallett
“It’s why I don’t own sweats…I feel like I should be watching TV with the flu when I wear them.”
- When I’m sick I make sure to change into “real” clothes for the exact same reason as the tip – it’s mental. I find if I dress like I’m sick, I feel sick. If I dress like it’s the weekend, well I still feel sick but not THAT sick.
fiji.siv
The best way to get rid of ads on Pandora is to buy a subscription.
Darklighter
Unrelated, but I absolutely hate those tiny ThinkPads. My buddy has one, and I feel like a giant typing on its cramped little keyboard and trying to navigate with the nipple.
orbitbreak
@ruffus910: If you just recently upgraded, or, you know, don’t throw away every old cell phone, you should be fine. My family has like 6 old phones still, and I plan on using one like this.
xCoolJackx
@ruffus910: I would like just *one* smart phone.
Duane
Spare smartphones? About to throw it away?
What do you take me for, LifeHacker? A millionaire?
ruffus910
@OMG! Ponies!: I have “bought” the Photoframe series of apps for the iPhone when they were temporarily free.
I use it as a desktop clock with nice images.
Other then that, I agree, don’t buy any clock-apps for iPhone
Firesphere
My tip on smartphone alarm clocks is not to buy them on the iPhone as the iPhone has a perfectly cromulent and loud alarm feature built into the clock.
As for collar stays, invest in brass collar stays. They cost a little bit but they can survive the washer. And, in a jam, you can use a paper clip as a collar stay.
OMG! Ponies!