Password Recovery, Window Switching, and Holiday Sales

Readers offer their best tips for keeping your passwords secure, switching between open windows, and saving money during holiday sales.

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, email it to tips at lifehacker.com, or share it on our tips and expert pages.

Use Aliases for Password Recovery

Ncw96 shares another way to keep your passwords secure:

I saw this article on password security that you just posted and had a similar idea:

You should use an email service with alias support for your password recovery information. These aliases cannot be used as a login address for your email account, so the hacker would not have the necessary info to access your email. This gives you an extra layer of security for your resets.

This method definitely works with Outlook.com accounts and iCloud accounts.

Cycle Through Open Windows of a Certain Program with AutoHotkey

Moon shares another awesome AutoHotkey script:

With Autohotkey's GroupAdd function, you can peruse opened files of a certain type, alt+tab style, without having to cycle through other kinds of files or programs that may also be running.

Here's a script example of what can be done:

GroupAdd, texts, ahk_class Notepad
return

^Numpad1::GroupActivate, texts, r

^Numpad2::
GroupClose, texts , A
return

In the above case, the Ctrl key plus the number 1 on the number pad will run you through all the text files you have open, assuming that Notepad is what you use for editing. If you use something else, such as MetaPad (my fave), then every instance of "Notepad" can be replaced with "metapad". Ultimately the name you use will be determined by the AutoIt3 Windows Info Spy tool that comes with Autohotkey. E.g. the class name for Notepad++ will likely read differently, though I haven't tested with that program? it might present itself as ahk_class Notepad++, or similar.

Any instances of Notepad that you open, whether they're new blank files or ones already in existence, will fall under the group name of "texts". In that way, each instance is added to your cycle-through list automatically. If you have browsers running, a music player, a graphics editor etc, they won't be part of the shuffle, because they're not in the group named texts , and thus won't show up to distract?so long as you use Ctrl+Numpad1 instead of the normal Alt+Tab.

The last three lines are just something I added for convenience. They close the whole group, using Ctrl+Numpad 2.

GroupAdd can do a lot more than this, too. See this link for more information.

Shop Holiday Sales, But Ignore Items That Aren't Marked Down

Thegamefreak0134 shares a simple tip for sale shopping:

I had the pleasure of setting the ads at [popular retail chain] today, and I want to point out a trend: for every item that I put out on sale, there was at least one item that got a silent increase in price. The accessories near the computers on sale were almost always marked up.

This should really surprise no one, as it's a no-brainer for the company to do this to try to stay on top of profits, so it's just buyer beware. The item that's on sale is probably a great deal, just don't negate it by buying all the marked up accessories for it. Shop around and be diligent.

This may not apply to every chain, but it's really repeating the same thing we always say about sales: look for the lowest price you can get at any given time, and you'll always be sure you're getting the best deal. Photo by Memphis CVB.

Use Android's Notification Drawer to Hide Phone Numbers in Screenshots

Dennizvu discovers an easy way to hide personal information:

My Android phone's messaging app shows the phone number in addition to the contact name above the conversation. When I need to screenshot the conversation (for any given reason, lulz on Facebook or something else), I pull down on the notification shade just enough to cover the phone number, and using my other hand, take a screenshot. No need to cut or block out using editing software, and requires very little work.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/zR6UiWgDODM/password-recovery-window-switching-and-holiday-sales

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