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Gina Trapani

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Upgrade Your Life: The Lifehacker Guide to Working Smarter, Faster, Better 2nd Edition

by Gina Trapani (Author)

4.3 30 ratings

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Lifehacker 3e
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Whether you?re a Mac or Windows user, there are tricks here for you in this helpful resource. You?ll feast on this buffet of new shortcuts to make technology your ally instead of your adversary, so you can spend more time getting things done and less time fiddling with your computer. You?ll learn valuable ways to upgrade your life so that you can work?and live?more efficiently, such as: empty your e-mail inbox, search the Web in three keystrokes, securely save Web site passwords, automatically back up your files, and many more.

ISBN-10

0470238364
ISBN-13

978-0470238363
Edition

2nd
Publisher

Wiley
Publication date

March 17, 2008
Language

English
Dimensions

6 x 1 x 9 inches
Print length

480 pages
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Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Spend more time getting things done and less time fiddling with your computer

This book isn't a computer user manual, and it isn't a productivity system. It's a mashup of both. It's where you learn to practice big-picture productivity methods on your very own computer desktop. Whether you're a Mac or Windows user, know only enough to get by or are the family tech support geek, there are tricks here for you. Whether or not you've been turbocharging your day with the tips from Gina's first Lifehacker book, you'll feast on this buffet of new shortcuts to make technology your ally instead of your adversary.

A dozen ways to upgrade your life:

Hack 1: Empty your email inbox
Hack 14: Instantly recall all your different passwords
Hack 22: Make your to-do list doable
Hack 29: Turn tasks into gameplay
Hack 45: Search the Web in three keystrokes
Hack 55: Securely save web site passwords
Hack 56: Become a scheduling black belt
Hack 59: Automatically back up your files
Hack 75: Remote-control your home computer
Hack 86: Supercharge your Firefox downloads
Hack 111: Synchronize folders between computers
Hack 114: Have your Mac and Windows too

Companion Web site
At http://lifehackerbook.com you'll find hack updates, additional information, and more tips and tricks.

About the Author

Gina Trapani (http//ginatrapani.org) is an independent web programmer and writer whose work has been mentioned in Wired magazine, The New York Times, and Time magazine. She is the founding editor of Lifehacker.com, a software and productivity weblog she updates several times daily. A Sun Microsystems-certified Java programmer, Gina builds web sites and Firefox extensions.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wiley; 2nd edition (March 17, 2008)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 480 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0470238364
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0470238363
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.22 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,545,109 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3,535 in Web Design (Books)
- #16,734 in Internet & Social Media
- #17,072 in Computer Science (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.3 30 ratings

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Gina Trapani

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Gina Trapani is the award-winning author, blogger, and programmer whose work translates cutting-edge technology into insights that boost personal productivity. Currently located in San Diego, CA, Gina leads development on ThinkUp, an open source social media insights engine the White House uses. She created Todo.txt apps, a text-based personal task manager, and Narrow the Gapp, a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data-driven web site about the gender pay gap. Gina was the founding editor of Lifehacker, the seminal productivity blog which garnered nominations for Blog of the Decade and yielded the best-selling book, Lifehacker, which is now in its third edition.

Her writing has appeared in The Harvard Business Review, Wired, CNN.com, PC World, Fast Company, Maximum PC, and Macworld magazines. Profiles of Gina's work have appeared in venues ranging from The Wall Street Journal to The New York Times. Fast Company named her one of the Most Influential Women in Technology in 2009 and 2010, and Wired magazine awarded her its prestigious Rave Award in 2006.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

30 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book helpful and easy to follow. They also appreciate the clear, concise writing style.

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Usefulness Writing style

9 customers mention "Usefulness"9 positive0 negative

Customers find the book helpful, relevant, and usable. They say it's great for trying new tools, great for productivity, and management skills. Readers also appreciate the references to other works and the tips are simple common sense. They mention that the book has improved their life immensely.

"...Other tips introduce useful applications like Remember the Milk, or remind you of features your phone already has..." Read more

"...first part of the book on general time management skills is still highly relevant and usable, its only in the last part of the book which goes into..." Read more

"...It's improved my life immensely, and often the time spent downloading has been paid back in minutes...." Read more

"...This is an outstanding tool. Very eye-opening. You won't regret it." Read more

3 customers mention "Writing style"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the writing style clear, concise, and easy to follow. They also appreciate the nicely formatted sections that make it easy to skip outdated sections.

"...Nicely formatted so its very easy to skip outdated sections, or just those sections that are not relevant to you...." Read more

"...It is very easy to actually read too. The size of the text makes cruising through the book quite easy too...." Read more

"...Well written and entertaining. I specifically enjoyed the references to other works that you can pick up for deeper study in various areas...." Read more

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Jim W

Worth its weight in iPhones

Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2009

Verified Purchase

I was a big fan of the first edition of Gina's LifeHacker. "Upgrade Your Life" is the expanded, revised, resized and renamed Second Edition, which should make it more accessible to the self-described "non-hacker."

The book's new dimensions and title make it look less like a computer book and more like the self-improvement book that it is. To the uninitiated, "lifehacker" sounds like something Dr. Frankenstein dabbled in, where "upgrade your life" could have come from Tony Robbins. These are small changes, but "small changes" for improving your productivity is what this book is all about.

The book is not designed to read front to back. Each "hack" has a a "level/platform/cost" header, which I find helpful, but I would have liked to have some or all of this info in the table of contents. Otherwise, the ToC is excellent, organizing the Hacks by productivity type ("Clear your mind," "firewall your attention") and descriptive Hacks and subtopics of each hack. At times, just reading the ToC is enough to set off the "a ha!" reaction and make a difference. For example, "remember 100 different passwords with one rule set" was enough to change my approach to passwords, even before I'd read the full text.

Many of the tips are simple common sense, which we can often miss because of habits we've already built up. Other tips introduce useful applications like Remember the Milk, or remind you of features your phone already has (Hack 72, "Access web apps and search via text message").

Gina is an excellent writer; her LifeHacker.com site remains a daily read. A lot of these tips have been covered on the site before, but having them available in compact, physical form is particularly helpful when I'm stuck on a project or assignment and need to make a mental break. Just learning something new and practicing it for a few minutes often helps me get back into the productive zone.

Highly recommended.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Matt Brown

Out of date, but still many good tips here.

Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2010

Verified Purchase

An unavoidable problem with writing any tech book is how quickly they get outdated, and this book is no exception. Saying that the first part of the book on general time management skills is still highly relevant and usable, its only in the last part of the book which goes into more specific software that the book shows its age.

Nicely formatted so its very easy to skip outdated sections, or just those sections that are not relevant to you. The book is also written in a clear and concise manner that is easy to follow. I still give the book high marks because those early on tips, like handing my inbox and keeping it empty, were so valuable I have had a noticeable improvement in my work productivity and other aspects of my life as well.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

David Field

Wonderful Book

Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2008

Verified Purchase

If there's one book that's provided me with value for money recently, this is it. I've had it for over a week and I look at it every day. The other reviews here do a fine job of telling you the content, so mine is a more personal review.

I have plenty of experience in computers, so I can see the advantage of many of the tips. Since buying the book I have changed my browser from IE and my e-mail from Yahoo to Thunderbird, as well as downloading some of the many freeware programs she recommends. It's improved my life immensely, and often the time spent downloading has been paid back in minutes.

I stop short at some of the suggestions for advanced users, but that's because I don't want to change things for the sake of changing them. Otherwise I have more programs that I know what to do with, but that's because there are so many of them.

What's good is that Gina has covered the recommendations down to the last detail, especially living your life with them. Too many books on software run through the features with no recommendations as to where and how to use them. So if you're a person with any level of computer experience you will be using these programs and tips more or less from when you adopt them.

So thank you Gina (and Terra) for bringing this book about. I would guess it's made me 50 percent more effective in the first week. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't do marvels after reading this.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Murry Z

save your time

Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2009

Verified Purchase

better off as an article . the point is well made but the book is often redundant .

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Julia 777

Huge timesaver - Use the technology you have to improve your life!

Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2008

Verified Purchase

I'll keep this review short and sweet: I love this book. I loved its predecessor, "Lifehacker", and love this one more.

It taught me things about what Windows, Office, and Firefox can do that I would have had no idea about before - and I thought I was reasonably astute! It also points you in the direction of an enormous number of great downloads, websites, and other resources - most of them free or quite cheap.

I've given this book as a gift a number of times and have always heard raves.

I'm currently running XP Pro and Office 2003 and it offers a lot of ideas for turbocharging those programs, but has even more ideas for Vista and Office 2007. I have tagged several dozen ideas to implement when I get around to upgrading.

This is an outstanding tool. Very eye-opening. You won't regret it.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Mr. A. Cosentino

great tool, great reference

Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2008

Verified Purchase

I have been working my way through this book and finding it so relevant for the modern day lifehacker (person who loves the computer revolution and the internet)

It is great to try new tools have had to get through a few hoops before being recommended.

It is very easy to actually read too. The size of the text makes cruising through the book quite easy too.

I have a small blog [...] which is really about whether to keep or dump new software I have tried. This book has provided a lot of inspiration to keep adding to it.

Two thumbs up.

Tony
Sydney, Australia

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Prof Wilson

Best for PCs but useful for Macs

Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2008

Verified Purchase

This book has some great tips as responses have noted. My one issue - at least a quarter of the book -- possibly more -- are tips that apply only to PCs. While often there will be a separate entry for PCs (usually longer) and Macs, there are a good number of suggested tools/tricks that only apply to PCs. I would have like to be able to read through only relevant ones.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful