Lifehacker Frequently Asked Questions (2024)

1. What's this all about?

Lifehacker, the software and productivity guide, is a blog that covers tips and tricks for streamlining your life with computers (and sometimes without). Updated several times daily, Lifehacker points out software downloads, web sites, do-it-yourself projects, howto's, tutorials, shortcuts and tips for going beyond the default settings and getting things done in the most clever, unexpected and efficient ways. Think of Lifehacker as self-help for power users.

Here's more information about our traffic, audience and press mentions.

2. What's a blog?

A weblog is a constantly-updated web site where posts are listed in reverse chronological order, so the newest stuff is always at the top of the page. Blogs are typically written in a conversational tone with a stronger focus on timeliness than accuracy. In other words, we depend on you to correct us - but you can always depend on us for new information.

3. Wait, so you're not always right? Your suggested way of doing things isn't always the best?

My child, there is no One True Way. In fact, there are millions of ways to skin a cat, and Lifehacker will try every single one, and let you know how it goes. (PETA: We're not actually killing felines here.)

It's up to you to decide if a hack works for you, and if you're ok with screwing up around with your routine as much as we are in the name of getting something done in a new, efficient way.

4. What does the word "lifehacker" mean?

Here a "hack" is a clever shortcut or a lesser-known, faster way to get something done. A hacker believes that information-sharing is a powerful positive good, and that it is a hacker's duty to share her expertise—so we will. The "life" part comes in because while the hacks you'll find here will focus mostly on technology—like how to automatically back up your hard drive, they'll also extend to things like how to re-purpose a shoe-holder to organize your gadgets or build an air conditioner for under 30 bucks.

Techie Danny O'Brien coined the term "life hacks" back in 2004. Here's more on the history of the term "life hack" at Wikipedia.

5. I'm drowning under 20 Lifehacker posts a day! Is there any way to get less frequent best-of Lifehacker updates?

Allow me to introduce you to our RSS feeds, which will help you get only as much Lifehacker as you want.

To get our best posts of the day (each editor chooses his/her favorites), subscribe to our top stories feed which will contain between 3-7 items a day, depending on how we're feeling. For a once a week summary of the best content on the site, plug our Highlights feed into your newsreader. That one will update once a week on Friday evenings (Eastern time.)

To get only our once-a-weekday feature story delivered to your newsreader, subscribe to our Feature feed. (Features are longer-form original content articles by the Lifehacker editors and guests.)

If you're partial to Adam's Hack Attack series (once a week, feed), or Gina's Geek to Live series (once a week, feed), subscribe to each or any one of those, too. (Those feature articles are included in the Features section, so if you want all of them, subscribe to the overarching Feature feed.)

In fact, every tag here at Lifehacker has a feed - you can find the ones you're interested in (like Mac OS X or Downloads) on our archives page.

We also have several fancy advanced URL operators that can help you exclude and include tags. Here's more on how to get only the posts you want to see at Lifehacker.

6. Do you get freebies by companies who expect you to post glowing reviews of their stuff?

Only ads can be purchased on Lifehacker, not posts. Lifehacker will publish weekly thank-you's to advertisers which will be clearly marked as such. Sometimes companies will give us freebies to test drive their products. In those cases, we'll tell you what we got for free upfront, and our review won't necessarily be positive.

Lifehacker's recommendations are whole-hearted and objective, regardless of site sponsorship.

Here's more information on advertising with us.

7. Seriously, does Lifehacker get free software for this gig?

Now that you mention it, Lifehacker thanks her lucky stars for free software - but that's free as in speech, not free as in beer, buster. Lifehacker harbors a deep respect for the philosophies and projects of the open source and free software communities, and will often point out software that's freely available to everyone.

That being said, we've been known to plunk down a few bucks for exceptional applications now and again.

8. Mac, Windows or Linux?

Lifehacker's trisexual.

No, really. Mac, Windows or Linux?

If you must know, we're involved in a polyamorous affair with several operating systems at the moment. Lifehacker does understand that most but not all readers are using a version of Microsoft Windows.

But [operating system Y] is so much better than [operating system X]!

See question 3: "There is no One True Way."

9. How can I submit my product or web site for a possible writeup on Lifehacker?

Send an email which includes a link to your product or web site to tips@lifehacker.com. We have short attention spans, so the shorter your message, the more likely we'll read it in full! Be sure your tip includes a web site URL. (Hey, we're a blog! We post links.)

Just because a link is emailed to us doesn't mean it will be written up - it depends on whether or not your product is a fit for Lifehacker, if it rocks our world sufficiently enough to share with readers, which way the planets are aligned and what our current posting schedule's like.

Please do not send us text-heavy press releases or product announcements; just a link and a one to two line description will suffice.

10. Will you review my book on Lifehacker?

Sorry, we don't do book reviews. Rare exceptions include books on the topic of productivity in a digital world. Send an email with a two-line description of your book and why it's a fit for Lifehacker to tips@lifehacker.com for consideration.

11. Why didn't you heartless people respond to my email?

There are thousands of you, and only a few of us. We live on and love messages from our readers, but we receive more email than we can respond to in this lifetime. Thank you for writing us; I can assure you one of us saw your message. We're deeply sorry we don't have enough time in the day to respond to every message we receive. If you just have thoughts about a particular post, we encourage you to leave your comment on the post itself so everyone can see it, instead of emailing us.

12. I have a question about a post and I emailed but haven't received an answer. What gives?

We're sorry we can't research the answers to every reader question we receive. Your best bet is to submit your question as a comment on the post itself.

13. Can you Ask Lifehacker Readers my question? Pretty please?

We love posing useful questions to the smarty pants Lifehacker readership, but not every question works for the site. Many questions' answers are just a Google search away. If you've got a burning question to ask smart people, we highly recommend joining the excellent community site Ask MetaFilter to do so.

14. How do I get to leave comments on Lifehacker posts?

Show us you'll be a good commenter. Submit your brilliant comment to a post and if we're sufficiently impressed, we'll approve you to comment again. For more on the ins and outs of our comment system, see the Comments FAQ.

15. Why didn't you post the tip I sent in?

We don't post anywhere near all the tips we receive. If you submitted something, thanks! If we didn't post it, don't take it personally. If a tip was posted before, didn't fit Lifehacker, or just didn't float our boat, we pass.

16. You posted something that's incorrect or incomplete! How could you?

If you're aware of a factual error on Lifehacker, please alert us by sending an email to tips@lifehacker.com or adding a comment to that post.

As detailed in our Recommended Download Policy, a Lifehacker editor downloads and installs software applications we recommend on site (unless otherwise noted.) Otherwise, we do our best to confirm the veracity of all the items we post—especially hardware hacks and claims made on sites we quote— but we make no guarantees, especially regarding content that appears on external web sites.

See our full site disclaimer for more information.

17. May I reprint an article on my web site or in my book or magazine?

You may, if the reprint abides by our syndicated content's Terms of Use.

18. Who's responsible for all this?

Lifehacker is published by Gawker Media, a far-flung team of folks also responsible for Gizmodo, Fleshbot, Defamer, Jalopnik, Wonkette, Gridskipper and Gawker. Lead editor Gina Trapani has been experimenting with software since she was tall enough to reach the keyboard. Head honcho Nick Denton keeps Lifehacker locked in a room surrounded by glowing boxes, flush with caffeine and gesticulating wildly, so you might want to check in with him.

Lifehacker Frequently Asked Questions (2024)
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