How Do I Deal With a Negative Performance Review? [Ask Lifehacker]

Dear Lifehacker,
I just got my annual performance review at work and let's just say it didn't go very well. Some of it was positive, but a lot of it took me by surprise, and now I'm worried for my job. How do I handle a not-so-great evaluation? I disagree with my boss, but he made some good points and seems to want me to improve. How can I make sure this doesn't happen again?
Signed,
Sinking Feeling

Photo remixed from an original by Andrey Popov/Shutterstock.

Dear Sinking Feeling,
A negative performance evaluation is definitely cause for concern, but it's nothing to get too worked up over unless your manager has specified that they're going to take some kind of action against you as a result. Consider it a very loud and clear warning that your job performance isn't up to snuff, one that you're going to take seriously if you want to stay at this job. Here are some ways you can turn this challenge into an opportunity.

Before you put too much time and energy into making this situation better, you have to ask yourself whether the real issue at hand here is personal—as in it stems from some fundamental difficulty you and your boss have working together, as in you don't get along or you never see eye to eye—or it's professional, as in there is some area where you're professionally lacking that your boss thinks is essential to your job or responsibilities.

If the matter is personal, there may not be very much you can do about it. If you and your boss butt heads over personal matters, or just don't like each other, there isn't much either of you can really do to fix that problem and become friendly or congenial, especially if its escalated to the point where your boss is willing to air out those personal grievances in your performance evaluation.

If the matter is professional, you have more options. The fact that you were taken by surprise with the evaluation is the first sign of trouble. You should never walk into a performance evaluation and be surprised by what you're hearing, especially if it's negative. Ideally, your boss will give you feedback on your performance over the course of your employment, and you'll know well in advance of a review if you haven't been meeting his or her expectations. Since that's not the case, that's the first thing we need to fix, then you can move on to more specific ways you can improve your job performance.

Photo by snow0810.

At the end of the performance review, you probably had to sign a statement saying you understood what was said, and since the review was negative, it's possible you were even put on a performance plan or some kind of improvement plan where you have a specific period of time to get better before your boss does another mini-review to see if you're on the right track. For some people, this kind of performance plan spells doom all by itself, but if you like your job and you really want to improve, now's the best time to take this seriously. Make sure you don't just walk away from your performance review with some food for thought.

Let your boss know that you're serious about improving your performance, that you're honestly surprised by the review, and you don't want to be caught blindsided again. It may sound painful, but a good way to get regular feedback from your boss on how you're doing is to nag them for a one-on-one meeting on a regular basis. Depending on how closely you work with your boss, that meeting can be every two weeks, or weekly if necessary. The important thing is that you find a way to get regular feedback from your boss not just on your improvement, but on how things are going in general and what work is coming down the line. Meeting with your boss regularly may also help clear up some of your personal disagreements as well, and offers you an opportunity to talk to your boss about what they think is important about your role, where you have to improve, and get direction on your priorities and how they think you can do better. Ultimately, those clues are going to be the biggest help to you.

Photo by bpsusf.

When you meet with your boss, you do want to take some time to just chat about how things are going, but you also want to come prepared with specific examples of how you're handling things differently than before, and you want to put them in front of your boss to make sure they agree that you're improving on the areas they dinged you on in your review. Now would be a great time to start keeping a work diary to document your successes and activities, and to embrace a weekly review to help you reflect on how the past week went, prep yourself for the next week, and document anything that needs to go down on paper.

Don't stop with your boss when it comes to feedback though. Reach out to your customers, whether they're internal groups that you work with or people outside the organization, to find out how well you're serving their interests, get their feedback on your strengths and weaknesses, and where you can help them. Being proactive can go a long way towards taking you from a dispensable, so-so employee to an irreplaceable one that everyone loves working with.

Finally, talk to your trusted colleagues about what they think. Get their feedback on your role, whether you're suited for it, and what they've been hearing as well. You should take all of this with a grain of salt: don't get too caught up in what other people think, but use them as a litmus test for the overall atmosphere. If several coworkers say the same thing, you know there may be something to it.

Photo by Brian Turner.

Once you've established a regular method to get feedback from your boss, and you've reached out to others to get their thoughts and opinions, it's time to put yourself on a performance plan. Even if your review didn't end with one, or your boss didn't even offer to help you improve your performance, if you want to keep your job you should do something for yourself.

Take note of the things your boss expressed concern with in your review. If you're constantly late to work, check out check out our tips on how to fix chronic lateness and reboot your morning routine so you get to the office sooner. If that doesn't work for you, maybe a schedule adjustment is in order so you work later and get to work at a time that works better for you. If your boss's problem is your skill with a specific tool or skill required to do your job, it might be time to take a few classes or sign up for additional training if it's available. See if your company offers reimbursement for job-related courses, other perks or benefits you can explore, or if your department has budget for training—even asking about it after a bad review shows that you're serious about improving, and if all you need to do is brush up to get a better review next time, a training class is well worth the time you'll put into it.

When you know what you can do to improve the things that you need to work on, all you have to do is put yourself on a timetable. Let your boss know that you're working on fixing the problems that came up in the review, and let them know you want to follow up with them in a certain number of weeks or months to discuss how things are going. If your review said you'll be re-evaluated in 60 days, you know you need to show demonstrable progress before then, so make that your goal. If your review was open-ended, give yourself 30, 60, and 90-day goals to get started. Whatever timetable you choose, make sure you make it challenging enough that you actually have to work to get there.

Photo by bpsusf.

Unfortunately, putting time, energy, effort, communication, training, and personal-development into turning a negative performance review around still may not work. Depending on how touchy your company is about reviews and office politics, even one bad review can effectively spell the end of your job at that company. At one company I used to work for, a bad review was a somewhat coded message for "you have 6 months to find another job, during which we'll look the other way if you spend half your day job hunting and doing the bare minimum here." In other cases, even employees who really turned around couldn't get past their manager's negative perception of them once they got a bad review.

If you spend a lot of time and energy honestly trying to improve yourself and you don't think your manager is buying it, or if you just don't see the situation improving, it may be time to take your newfound skills, brushed-up productivity techniques, and rebooted mornings to a company that will appreciate you, or at least offer you a fresh start. Just make sure you leave the baggage behind—you don't want to start a new job with the ghosts of the old one following you through the door.

Photo by lculig/Shutterstock.

Have you ever had a negative performance review? Did you turn things around or leave the company? Share your experiences in the comments below.

Lifehacker Faceoff: The Best Digital Digests for iPad and iPhone [Lifehacker Faceoff]

Thumbing through the newspaper over your morning coffee and a few minutes of chitchat at the water cooler used to be all it took to stay up-to-date on your world. Now we're faced with a constant flow of information from the internet that often feels overwhelming. The crop of iOS apps dedicated to bringing you a curated, customizable, and attractive stream of content is one way to combat the information overload. Much more than simple RSS readers, these digital digest apps cull stories from across the web and your social networks and wrap them into an iPad friendly and design-forward package. Here's a look at the best options.

(If you just want to hear which we liked best, go ahead and jump down to the end.)

Flipboard (iTunes) is the most well-known of the digital digests, and it was considered one of the iPad's first killer apps. Flipboard pioneered the mixing of social networks and news outlets using a slick visual design; it was even named on of the The 50 Best Inventions of 2010 by Time Magazine.

Flipboard has a great user-interface and visual design. It turns your iPad into a gorgeous glossy magazine filled with pictures of your friend's babies and professional photojournalists' best work. Images fill the iPad's screen and the type is crisp and clean. This eye-candy appeal makes the app a real virtual-page turner that will have you saying "just one more flip" until way past your bedtime.

If the strength of the Flipboard's visuals are its biggest draw, it's the way the app merges your social feeds into the stream of traditional content that keeps you coming back. Flipboard's presentation of tweets as pull-quotes scattered among the headlines and images of the stories linked to by your contacts is a welcome improvement on Twitter's linear stream.

Flipboard focuses on your social networks when building your digital digest, but it also allows you to add in sections of traditional web content feeds. These feeds are generated through Twitter streams, and as a result you are often presented with only the first paragraph of a story and have to click-through to the source site to complete the reading. The sudden change from Flipbord's clean design to the uneven quality of the outgoing link is often jarring.

Besides causing the uneven presentation, the source of a story also limits the way you are able to share that story; if you want to share a story from Twitter you can only tweet about it. Likewise with Facebook stories; there is no simple way of tweeting a link that originated in Facebook.

Flipboard was the first digital digest on the scene and it is one of the most visually appealing UIs on the iPad. The app engages you with your social networks in a new and very enjoyable way, and it deserves a spot on everyone's iPad. However, the limits to sharing the content feel awkward and dated and the limited sources for outside content focus Flipboard more on your social networks and less on news stories.

Like Flipboard, Zite (iTunes) merges your Twitter feed with curated web content, and it allows you to add in your Google Reader feeds for more material. The app's hook is that it learns your reading habits using algorithms developed by the University of British Columbia's Laboratory for Computational Intelligence and suggests articles that you will like . Zite monitors which articles you read and how long you spend on each type of article so the learning process is more transparent than using manual thumbs-up and thumbs-down buttons (though those are available).

Zite's presentation is a midpoint between Flipboard's design-nerd look and Google Reader's utilitarian layout, and the app is intuitive and beautiful. There is rarely the confusion of UI elements that the other digital digest apps can exhibit. Once you've added content categories flipping through the stories feels natural.

Zite's user interface is second only to the AI-driven recommendations as the app's best feature. Whatever voodoo is going on behind the scenes is impressive, and after just a day or two of using the app you will be presented with compelling articles that you didn't know you wanted to read. A simple customization panel slides out from the right side and allows you to further tune the app's selections.

Once Zite has shown you some great blog-post or news story there are numerous ways to share the story. Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are represented, as well as popular web services like Instapaper, Read It Later, Evernote, and Delicious.

One glaring omission from Zite's stable of sources is Facebook, and it doesn't showcase the tweets of your Twitter connections the way that Flipboard does. This makes the app more of a news-aggregater and less of a way to interact with your social networks. Zite was acquired by CNN earlier this year, and while they news network hasn't made any changes to the app some think this loss of Independence will hurt Zite down the road.

If you want to see all your friends tweets and Facebook updates in your digital digest, Zite is not be the best choice. The great recommendation algorithm makes ii the best at providing you with always interesting content, and there are numerous ways to share this content. Zite is my most used app on the iPad, and it is the first thing I open when I have a little time to kill on the couch.

Editions (iTunes), AOL's entry into the digital digest space, takes the virtual news magazine concept a step further with its presentation and by making it possible to read the app "cover to cover." Editions only updates its content once per day; once you select which topics you would like the app downloads all the articles chosen by its algorithms, indexes them, and makes them available for off-line reading. When you have completed the 100-or-so pages of the edition you are done until the next day (or you manually refresh).

Edition's strongest feature is the off-line reading capabilities, and for someone who is often without a data connection but still wants to have tailored content available throughout the day, like subway commuters, it is perfect. You can customize the app's color pallet and create a black-list for sources you don't want Editions to pull from.

The sharing options in Editions are better than Flipboard, and while not as comprehensive as Zite's options all the major services are covered. The app also has some fun extras like a weather report on the cover and a horoscope feature at the "end" of each edition.

Editions' user interface feels a little like Jekyll and Hyde. Visually the app is close to Zite and Flipboard's design, but the UI feels sluggish and often stutters and flickers when navigating. Articles you select are opened as a web page in the app's internal browser, and you get a jolt when the app transitions from the clean design of its pages to the often cluttered design of the source's web page (complete with ads).

The sluggishness and uneven presentation can be jarring, but more jarring is the app's large and interactive ads. It is too easy to trigger an advertisement while trying to navigate past it, and this can result in videos or 3D animations playing. When you consider all the ads you also see while reading the content, Editions is easily the most ad-dense of the digital digests.

The developers did a commendable job of making the app feel like you are reading a digital magazine. This makes the slowness of the UI and the frequency of advertisements breaking up the reading experience more glaring than they might otherwise be. The variety of ways to share articles and the offline reading feature can make up for a lot of the app's shortcomings, and it is worth trying out if you have a Wi-Fi iPad and spend time reading without a Wi-Fi network.

Livestand (iTunes) is Yahoo's horse in the digital digest race, and like AOL Editions it uses a network of content providers to populate your reading list. While it lacks the quantity of sources that the other options offer, Livestand has an attractive presentation and lots of options to tailor the available content just the way you want it.

Livestand presents articles in a simple way that is not jarring or distracting, and it is the most visually consistent of the digital digest apps. Instead being unsure if you will see the story you select reformatted or if you'll be taken to the source's web page, Livestand always smoothly transitions to an attractively formatted article that matches the style of the app. This seems like a small thing, but it makes the whole reading experience feel more natural and seamless.

Livestand doesn't have a single fault that makes it hard to recommend, but a combination of smaller issues make it feel unpolished. Though the app has over 100 content partners, its selection of sources doesn't have the breadth of Zite or Flipboard, and Livestand feels much more limited in the viewpoints it presents. The app's performance isn't as choppy and distracting as Editions, but it also doesn't have the snap of Flipboard. Sharing articles is limited to email and Facebook, and you must use a landscape orientation when using the app where the competing apps are more flexible.

While there were no terrible problems with Livestand, there were enough little issues that the app seems cumbersome and unfinished. The article layouts look great, even better than Flipboard in a lot of cases, but the limited content and poor sharing options put it at the bottom of the list. The app was only released in November, and with some updates the app could be a serious contender.

The new kid on the block, Currents (iTunes), is Google's long awaited Digital Digest app, and it launched with a deep catalog of content providers and some nice features. Currents links to your Google account and is available across iOS and Android devices.

The feature that separates Currents from the pack is a well organized Trending Topics section with video support. Trending Topics is broken up into tabs; the "Stories" tab is a scrolling feed of popular topics in eight different categories. Once you select a topic you are shown all the sources reporting on that topic, and this is a nice way to get some different perspectives on one story. The "User Generated" tab has pages of YouTube videos related to the topic to flip through. Currents is the only digital digest to include video content and it is such a natural feature for tablet computers that I am surprised it is not more common in the digital digets.

Currents also allows you to read content offline. Read items are synced to your Google account; a nice touch if you do your reading on multiple devices.

The attractive user interface has some rough edges, and it feels clunky to use. Often images for a topic appear overly-enlarged and pixelated, and the mass of images that appear on top of topic pages are a chaotic jumble. Sometimes you navigate with up-and-down scrolling and other times with left-and-right scrolling, and this causes a low-level confusion that persists while you flip through the app.

There are plenty of ways to share content you find, but oddly Google+ posting is missing. You can +1 a story, but there is no way to share it with your circles from the iOS app. I also ran into some bugs when sharing articles with some sources where the actual link would not appear in the email or tweet.

The relevancy of Currents' recommendations and user generated content is often way off base; a lot of topics will recommend other stories that are only tangentially related at best. The accuracy of these recommendations should improve as the app matures, but right now they can be more distracting that useful.

Google's addition of video and the leveraging of their search and aggregation technology set Currents apart from the crowd. The app is just a few days old however, and there are some improvements and fixes that need to be made before it is a real challenger to Flipboard's attractive interface and Zite's content delivery and sharing.

Predictably, the choice boils down to your personal preference, and what you are looking to get out of this style of app. Flipboard is the best alternative way to stay up to date on your Twitter and Facebook feeds, but it's limited sharing options and smaller pool of content sources mean it isn't the best choice if you want to read more articles than tweets.

The app I choose to give precious iPad dock space too is Zite. It is currently the best bet if you want a practically endless stream of articles delivered to you plus the best tools to share content with your friends. Add in the ability to specify RSS feeds to add to your digest and Zite's uncanny learning abilities and the app is easy to recommend to any iPad user.

Today's Lifehacker Workout: Start the Week Right with a 30-Minute Workout [Video]

Happy Monday, everyone! Time to get moving with our group exercise plan, The Lifehacker Workout. All you need is 30 minutes, 3 times a week to keep fit. Here's the plan for today.

The video above shows you how to do today's workout: 20 minutes of walking or jogging plus 10 minutes of strength exercises (5 push ups, 10 crunches, 15 squats; repeat). There are video instructions in the playlist above, but you can skip through those 3 to fast forward to the 10-minute looped video showing the core exercise reps (great to exercise along with).

Whether you're just joining us or have been doing the workout all along, you're welcome to come join our end-of-year group challenge and log your workouts on Fleetly.

Related Stories

How Can I Tether Without My Carrier Finding Out? [Ask Lifehacker]

By Alan Henry Oct 17, 2011 10:00 AM 61,130 84

Dear Lifehacker,
I just bought a new smartphone, and I want to tether it to my laptop when I'm traveling and visiting friends. It won't be too often, so I'd really rather not pay my wireless carrier for a tethering plan. How can I tether my phone to my laptop without my carrier knowing about it?
Signed,
4G Wants To Be Free

Photo by Preetam Rai.

Dear 4G Wants To Be Free,
We understand where you're coming from. Most smartphones have the ability to serve as wireless hotspots built into their mobile OSes and their hardware without any added cost, but wireless carriers know that they can charge for the functionality, so they do.

Before we go any further, we should point out one thing: tethering your phone without a plan from your carrier could be a violation of your carrier's terms of service agreement, and can result in either you having to pay hefty overages for the data you use while tethering, or in extreme cases can wind up getting your account canceled if your carrier finds out. Most carriers know it's not in their best interest to cut off a paying customer who wants to tether their phone however, and they'll usually just send you a letter to say "hey, we noticed you're tethering, and if you keep it up, we'll automatically enroll you in a plan with a monthly charge to cover your usage."

If you want to avoid that happening to you, here are some ways to make sure you don't attract attention, and if you do, some ways to go legit.

One of the telltale signs to your carrier that you've probably been tethering your phone is if you start racking up massive overage charges in a very short period of time. If your data plan caps you at 2GB/month, and you normally use less than one, but suddenly start blowing through your cap on a regular basis, one of the best things you can do is bump up your data plan to a level appropriate for the amount of data you're using. You're not exactly hiding anything here and you're not covering your tracks, but you'll save yourself money in the long run and you're moving your data plan to an appropriate level for the amount of data you actually use, thus drawing less attention to your activities.

If you can get into an unlimited plan, that's one great way to make sure that your carrier doesn't start to wonder about your data usage habits because or a recent rash of plan overages. Unfortunately, more and more carriers are shying away from unlimited plans, but if you can get onto one, it may be worth it depending on how much tethering you plan to do. Again, it's worth noting that making sure your data plan includes whatever data you may use by occasionally tethering to your laptop is only a way to avoid drawing attention to yourself - it doesn't actually do anything to cover your tracks.

In the same vein as making sure your data plan accommodates the data used while tethering, it's also important to not use too much in general. Since you said you only plan to tether occasionally, like when you're traveling or visiting friends, it's important to try and use Wi-Fi if it's available (and use a VPN to secure your connection) instead of just tethering because you can. The best way to make sure you don't draw attention to yourself is, of course, to not do it—or do it so irregularly that your carrier won't consider your data usage pattens abnormal or worth closer scrutiny.

Another way to make sure you don't draw too much attention to yourself while tethering is to avoid using the tethering apps that your wireless carrier is on the lookout for. It may sound obvious, but some AT&T users report that they were busted by AT&T when they started using the MyWi tethering app partially because it simulates the phone's built-in tethering functionality, and is easy for your carrier to spot. PC World explains that many apps simply unlock and turn on the phone's built-in tethering features, and apps that do this are the easiest to detect from a carrier's perspective.

Instead, consider an app like PdaNet, which gets the job done, connects your phone to your laptop differently, and also gives you the option to hide your tethering activity from your carrier. PdaNet isn't the only app that promises to hide tethering activity from your carrier, but it's definitely one of the best and most well-known. Most carriers are worried enough about PdaNet and apps like it that they do to great lengths to keep you from installing them. Android users have to side-load the app because carriers have asked Google to hide the app from their users in the market, and iOS users all have to jailbreak to get them.

Even apps that promise to hide your tethering activity from your carrier can only do so much. Bumping up your data plan and only tethering when you absolutely have to help, but they only do so much as well. In the end, you're playing a cat-and-mouse game with your carrier that can at any time end up with you getting a text message or a letter from your carrier warning you that they know you've been tethering your phone for free and that if you keep it up, they'll enroll you in a tethering plan.

In cases like this, it may just be worth it to go ahead and sign up for a tethering plan so you can do it whenever you choose and not worry about overages or trying to hide from your carrier. Plus, once you're signed up, your carrier will give you tools to help you do it—which you can promptly ditch and go back to tethering the way you choose.

Also, if you really want mobile wireless access but you don't want to pay your wireless carrier more than you already do, getting a warning notice may be a good opportunity to investigate mobile hotspots and USB modems from other carriers that offer more speed for your money than tethering to your phone. For example, if you're tethering to your phone on AT&T and have a hard time keeping a data connection at all, you may consider a 4G USB modem from Verizon Wireless or a portable MiFi hotspot from T-Mobile. Many even offer pay-as-you-go or prepaid plans so you only pay for what you use, as opposed to keeping a rolling monthly contract, which could wind up costing you less than a tethering plan or new contract.

Ultimately though, if you want the ability to go above-board with your tethering, it may behoove you to just go legit and not worry about it anymore. If you don't want to pay for it because you hate your carrier, branch out and sign up with another one you may hate slightly less.

One thing that's important to remember is that if you do attract the attention of your carrier, they have more advanced tools to examine your usage patterns, bandwidth utilization, and data traffic to determine whether you're tethering than you have tools to hide your activities. The best thing you can do is try to manage your usage so you never draw that attention in the first place, and use the tethering apps that don't automatically sound the alarm to your carrier's network management teams that you're tethering without a plan. Keep in mind though that even though you do all of this, you may be busted eventually anyway, and you'll have to decide whether you want to keep pushing your luck, spend money on a tethering plan, or find someone else to give your mobile wireless business to. That said, good luck, and let us know how it goes! Photo by Paul Irish.

Love,
Lifehacker

PS - Do you feel tethering to your smartphone should be free? Do you have a preferred tethering app that you would suggest to 4G Wants To Be Free? Have your say in the comments below.

You can reach Alan Henry, the author of this post, at alan@lifehacker.com, or better yet, follow him on Twitter or Google+. Related Stories

Should I Switch to iCloud From Google? [Lifehacker Showdown]

By Whitson Gordon Oct 17, 2011 12:00 PM 44,724 62

Among the big enhancements to iOS 5 is Apple's new iCloud suite, which keeps your mail, contacts, calendars, documents, and other data stored in the cloud and synced to all your Apple devices. Most people currently use Google services for these features, so we played with iCloud for a few days and looked at how they stacked up against one another. Here's what we found.

Both suites are actually pretty good. It's no secret we love Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, and other Google service around here, but if you're an Apple user, iCloud is pretty tempting. Each individual service has its own strengths and weaknesses. Here are the big services in each service and how they stack up against one another.

One of the biggest differences between both suites is the amount of storage you get. iCloud gives you 5GB for free, for all iCloud services—that means if you fill up that space with documents, you could stop receiving email, and if you get email with huge attachments, you might run out of space for documents or photos. Google, on the other hand, gives you lots more space for free, and splits it up by service: Gmail gets a little over 7GB for free, Google Docs gives you 1GB for uploaded files (but mostly unlimited space for web-created documents), and 1GB of space for high-res photos in Picasa.

You can grab extra storage for iCloud and Google, though Google's prices are significantly better. $20 a year will get you 10GB extra space with iCloud, but it'll get you 80GB of extra space on Google. Check out Google's pricing page and Apple's pricing page for more info.

Mail's web interface is surprisingly iOS-like, even moreso than Lion's version of Mail. You have three panes, like a traditional mail client, but it has large buttons and only a few options. In fact, it looks nearly identical to the screens you'd get on the iOS version of Mail. Luckily, the buttons along the top include both Archive and Delete, something you don't get with Gmail on iOS. Frustratingly, Gmail only allows you to archive or delete messages, but it doesn't give you the option to put both buttons in your toolbar. iCloud handles this like a champ, making productive email management a lot easier and faster.

Of course, it isn't without downsides. The web version of Mail is extremely basic, and even assuming you use Mail.app in OS X to manage your email, you'll miss out on a lot of the advanced features Gmail has to offer. Whether it's the increased organizational powers of labels over folers, super-powerful search operators, the ability to "send as" another email address, or even even the many Gmail labs like Send & Archive, Apple's iteration of email is a bit less feature rich. Gmail's spam filtering is also a big feature that you probably use, but don't even notice—and iCloud won't have that. If you were using Mail.app to manage your email anyway, you probably won't miss most of Gmail's advanced features. Just know they won't be available to you, even on the web, if you use iCloud.

The two calendar apps are much more similar. Both allow you to create multiple calendars, color-code them, and attach reminders. iCloud misses out on a few of the smaller features—like assigning an event as "busy" or "free" time, but overall all the basics are the same. The big difference is in shared calendars: In iCloud, you can only collaborate on a calendar with other iCloud users. Google Calendar users can only collaborate with Google users, too, but it's likely that you know more people using Google Calendar than iCloud, so this is a disadvantage for iCloud. You can still add shared Google calendars to iCal. Also note that you can still share iCloud calendars with Google users, but they'll be read-only, so you'll still be the only one able to edit them.

There isn't a huge difference between the two contacts apps. iCloud's address book looks almost exactly like OS X Lion's version of Address Book, only in a larger window. If you really dig down into Address Book, you may notice that Google's contact system—since it runs on Exchange—can't sync certain fields. For example, it only supports "Manager", "Spouse", and "Supervisor" in the relationship field, which can make things like Siri a bit less useful. It's minor, but it is a downside.

The biggest problem between the two is that iCloud requires—for unknown reasons—that you only sync with iCloud. That means you can't sync your Google contacts and iCloud contacts with your Mac's address book simultaneously, which can be very annoying if you want to use both. However, few people really need this feature, and like I said, iCloud's address book is potentially more powerful anyway, so it shouldn't be a huge burden.

iCloud's competitor to Google Docs is "Documents in the Cloud", a service that keeps your Pages, Keynote, and Numbers documents in sync between all your iOS devices and the web. However, instead of being a web-based suite of apps, it's merely storage space from which you can download and upload documents. Anything you create in Pages, Numbers, or Keynote on iOS can automatically be saved in the cloud, and your other iOS devices will always have the most up-to-date version of that document. If you want to edit it on your computer, you can go to the iCloud web interface and download any of those documents for editing with your favorite desktop office program.

This may sound like a downside, but it makes the process easy enough that it really isn't a problem—and, in the end, your desktop office suite is probably much more full-featured than something like Google Docs would be. iCloud's interface for storing your documents is very nice, and you can download a document with the click of a button. When you're done editing it in Pages, Word, LibreOffice, or whatever else you choose, you can just drag it back into the web interface and it will replace the older file. It's incredibly simple, yet gives you the flexibility to easily use whatever office suite you want. It's only downside is that it requires you buy iWork for iOS, which is $10 for each app—even if you only want to sync those documents between your computers. Though really, if you're just syncing between computers, we recommend you just use something like Dropbox anyways.

The big advantage of Google Docs is the ability to edit documents right in the web interface, and collaborate on them with other people. You don't get any of those great collaboration features in iCloud, and you can't upload files of any type to iCloud like you can with Google Docs. Like the other services, it all depends on what's important to you. If you need the collaborative features of Google Docs, iCloud won't be able to replace it, but as far as cloud document storage and syncing goes, iCloud does a fine job.

Photos and music work a bit differently in iCloud than other services, so it's hard to compare the two. Your photos and music aren't actually stored in the cloud, for you to view from anywhere—iCloud just makes them available to all your iOS devices. Any photos you take on your device will automatically show up in your computer's photo library, and vice-versa. But, you won't be able to view or share them on the web. Similarly, iTunes in the Cloud will automatically send new purchased music to all of your devices. It'll also come with iTunes Match, which will make most of your computer's library available for download on all your devices for $24.99 a year. Again, though, you won't be able to access that music from the web or stream it—you can only download it to your other iOS devices. Thus, if you rely on Picasa or Google Music to make that media available to you everywhere, you probably don't want to give it up for iCloud just yet. If you don't use them, though, iCloud can make syncing your devices a lot easier.

After using iCloud for awhile, our conclusion is pretty much what we expected: Google's services definitely win in terms of features, but when it comes to integration with your Mac and iOS devices, iCloud obviously has an edge. In the end, it's pretty easy to determine whether you should switch: If you use your Google services on the desktop, with programs like Mail, iCal, and iWork, then you should definitely switch. Everything will work a bit better than you're used to (especially email), and you probably won't miss anything from Google's services, since you can't access those extra features in desktop programs anyway. If you use Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, and others on the web, thn moving to iCloud could feel like a big downgrade. Sure, you have better integration, but the change in feature set is much greater, and if you use any of Google's more advanced features, you'll really miss them. Of course, it's all about what's most important to you—iCloud's one-click setup is really awesome—so you'll have to decide for yourself.

Have you given iCloud a shot? Let us know what you think—and whether it's convincing you to switch away from Google—in the comments. And, if you're ready to make the jump, be sure to check back tomorrow for our full how-to on migrating all your mail, contacts, calendars, and other data from Google to iCloud.

You can contact Whitson Gordon, the author of this post, at whitson@lifehacker.com. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page.
Related Stories

What Do I Need to Look Out for In an Apartment Landlord? [Ask Lifehacker]

By Adam Dachis Oct 18, 2011 10:00 AM 16,024 34

Dear Lifehacker,
I've always been able to find plenty of good apartments, but end up with a crappy landlord each time. How can I find a home to rent that isn't owned by someone awful?

Sincerely,
Home Wrecked

Dear HW,

There are definitely good, honest landlords out there so you're not out of luck. It also isn't so much about finding a good one as much as finding one that you get along with and respect. There are plenty of nice people in the world but you're not going to like them all. Honesty and kindness aren't the only qualities that will matter in a landlord-tenant relationship.

First things first, you have to consider the type of landlord you'll be dealing with. Sometimes your landlord will be a large corporation and other times they'll just own a condo and you'll be their only tenant. These factors can have an enormous impact on the quality of your tenancy, so you need to pick the right type first.

When you rent from a corporation that owns quite a bit of property there are plenty of pros and cons. Generally corporations will own large properties and they'll be bought and sold frequently. The company managing the property on the day you move in might change while you're living there. This could have a positive or negative impact, and you assume that risk when you decide to live there. If you're looking at a larger apartment complex, find out who owns the property and how they manage it. You can learn these details by making a call to the leasing office or checking the property's web site (if one exists). Call the company, find out how long they've owned the property, and ask how rent pricing has varied on your type of unit over the past five years. (If they're not forthcoming, much of this information is a matter of public record and you can request it from your state government.) Because corporations are most interested in a profit and sometimes do not even reside in the same state as the property itself, they're more likely to raise the rent significantly when your lease is up because a single vacancy isn't a huge loss to them. They also do not know you personally and will have little sympathy if the significant rent increase is suddenly far beyond your means. This isn't the case with all corporate-managed properties, but it is with some and why you should look at how the rent has changed over time.

On the upside, these large complexes are often very nice. Many come with several amenities and are well-maintained. For the most part, you'll be left alone to live in your apartment and won't be bothered. So long as you can afford to always pay your rent on time, you'll be a valued tenant.

Landlords who manage multiple properties but have a local office are generally a good option for most people. Of course this will depend on the specific landlord, but assuming you find one you like you won't have to deal with a lot of the problems you'll encounter with a corporation or a single-unit owner (detailed in the next section). Local landlords with multiple properties will care you take care of the property but generally won't have an excessively watchful eye. So long as you take good care of the place you shouldn't have any trouble. You also will have an easier time negotiating rent increases if the proposed amount is too high. Although this type of landlord owns multiple properties, tenant turnover still has a greater impact than it would on a corporation. On the whole, there are generally no major upsides or downsides.

Landlords managing only a single property, such as a condo or home they can't currently sell, have some significant advantages and a few disadvantages. When renting from this type, you'll often be expected to keep their place in great shape. They once lived there and they're going to want to sell the property some day, so it's very important it looks good. This is especially relevant when they are trying to sell their property. You'll be able to stay as long as your lease allows, but if you plan on living there awhile you may find that you're uprooted sooner than you'd like. It can help to ask the landlord if they plan to sell at any point in time, but they may not be forthcoming with this information as they don't want to risk your departure.

On the upside, you can often find a great apartment for less than it's worth. Your landlord will likely be most concerned with covering his or her mortgage payments rather than turning a profit, which means a mutually beneficial relationship for both of you. This type of landlord will generally prefer to be more hands-off as they do not run a business and have to deal with maintenance concerns on their own. This means problems can sometimes take a little longer to fix, but that's not a major downside. What's particularly great is that they will appreciate the bare minimum—paying your rent on time and treating the unit well—more than any other landlord.

When it comes to single-unit landlords it is most important that you find one you like. You'll interact with them more than any other type, as you'll be their only tenant. If you don't get along, you can expect problems down the road.

Once you've picked a type that works best for your particular situation, it's time to do a little research. Review sites like Yelp are a good place to start when you're dealing with large-to-medium-sized companies, whether they're remote or local. In the event you've chosen a large property, look for reviews about that specific property. If you've chosen a medium-sized local landlord, look for reviews on his or her property management company.

The very best source of information on a particular property is other tenants. Not every tenant will want to speak to you about their living experience, but if you knock on a few doors or ring a few bells you'll likely find someone who will answer your questions. If their quality of living is particularly bad, you'll have little trouble finding out.

Finally, make an effort to get to know your landlord. Before signing the lease, ask a few questions about them and their philosophy on property management. Find out what's most important to them so you know before moving in. If you're planning to rent from a single-unit owner, feel free to get more personal. Ask them why they're renting, what they do for a living, about their interests, and so on. These topics don't have to be brought up in an awkward way. If they haven't moved out all their things, simply comment on something you like and start asking related questions. You're just two people, so having a normal conversation to get to know each other is completely reasonable.

If you've had a string of bad landlords, it's worth considering that you might actually be the problem. In the same way you should examine any problem, if you and your behavior remains the same in each instance there's a good chance you're the problem's common denominator. Be sure to take an honest look at your behavior before blaming every landlord you've ever had. It's entirely possible they've all sucked, but if you're ruling yourself out you're not looking at the entire picture. If changing your behavior and expectations can solve the problem, that will be a heck of a lot easier than finding the holy grail of landlords that always seems just out of your grasp.

Photo by Stephen VanHom

You can follow Adam Dachis, the author of this post, on Twitter, Google+, and Facebook.  Twitter's the best way to contact him, too. Related Stories

Follow Lifehacker and Its Writers on Twitter for Top Stories As They’re Posted [Announcements]

As soon as an article goes up here at Lifehacker one of the first things we do is make sure to get the word out on Twitter that it's live. If you use Twitter already, consider following the @Lifehacker official account to see those posts when they go up on the site.

If you're looking for more conversation than the official account offers, or you want to chat with your favorite Lifehacker writers, why not follow some of us individually to see what we're up to, see more tips and tricks that we don't post, or to share your thoughts when we look for feedback?

If you don't like Twitter very much, you can keep up with us on Facebook, or over on Google+, or subscribe to our newsletter for a daily wrap-up of our posts. However you choose to keep up with us, we're glad you choose to stay with us, so thank you.

Related Stories

The Lifehacker Workout: Exercise for Normal People [The Lifehacker Workout]

Extreme exercise programs like P90X, CrossFit, and Insanity will without a doubt kick you into the best shape of your life in a very short amount of time—but only if you stick with their crazy-for-most routines. The majority of people (trainers I've spoken with say something like 9 out of 10) give up on these workouts because they're really intense and require an hour almost every day to do them.

We've created a workout that borrows a few of the best ideas from these popular, though extreme, fitness programs, but tailored the workout to be easier for the average person to stick with, and we've plugged it into Fleetly, a group exercising webapp and iPhone app, so we can all work towards a shared goal of getting fit. It's equipment-free, it's something anyone can incorporate in their day regardless of their current fitness level, but it's still about incorporating fitness in your life. This is The Lifehacker Workout.

I personally got through about a third of the P90X program before a medical emergency interrupted my progress; all it takes is an interruption, big or small, to feel dissuaded (or use as an excuse to stop), especially when the bar is so high. Honestly, though: I was ready for less pain.

So I turned to personal trainer and fitness competition champion Gillian Mounsey to help develop a more realistic program: One that provides variety, works out your core muscle groups with strength and cardio exercises, and won't make you feel like you're dying ten minutes into the exercises. Lifehacker member The Other Half (who is an independent Beachbody coach in addition to having many other talents) offered some great insights as well.

Then there's the inclusion of the free group-exercise tool, Fleetly. Exercising in groups helps team members stay motivated and achieve greater fitness goals. Thanks to technology we can all exercise together, in a way, even if we're actually working out on our own in separate homes.

The Lifehacker Workout is designed so you won't need any equipment except a deck of cards and, for tracking your walks or runs, a pedometer or app on your smartphone (many running/walking apps have built-in pedometers); previously mentioned Gmaps Pedometer is something you can use to calculate distance before or after your walk too. This means you can do the workout just about anywhere—and have no excuse to procrastinate. We're starting the workout challenge in the next week or two, in fact. (More on that in a bit.)

Additionally, it's a 3-day a week program that only takes 30-40 minutes a day. Because we're not doing the 1-hour a day, 6 days a week more demanding P90X regimen, we're working out our whole body every time (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday), using good, basic movements that are easy to make more difficult as we progress.

For additional training, we've added an optional 4th day (Sunday) with more targeted workouts that vary each week. For those more intense workouts, however, you'll need some equipment to get the most benefit: resistance bands or dumbbells at least, a pull-up bar, and maybe a bench.

To be clear, this workout isn't designed for building mass or getting into "beach body" shape in the quickest time possible. It's designed for normal people, and it's scalable to each person's level, whether you tend to sit at your desk way too long or are more physically active.

One of the benefits of this program, of course, is that we're doing it together. We're setting up a group challenge on Fleetly for everyone who wants to join us. Once you log a certain number of workouts for the month, you'll get your special Lifehacker medal. (It's not about the badges, points, or other trappings, though, as much as we're all getting it done.)

We'll update and repost this article with a link to the challenge when we're ready to begin (in about a week or two) so you can participate, but you can get started with the Lifehacker Workout, of course, as soon as you want. Like now:

Ready? Here's an overview of the schedule. Click on the links below to jump to that day's exercises (or just click through the days in the Lifehacker sidebar on the right). You'll be able to see these shared workouts and associated videos on Fleetly too (chosen precisely for its group challenges and sharing of workouts).

Monday: 30-40 minute Full Body Workout
Wednesday: Deck of Cards Workout
Friday: 30-40 minute Full Body Workout
Sunday: Optional Targeted Workout

When beginning any exercise program, remember to take it slow, listen to your body, and build it up gradually. Also don't forget to add in some stretching before and after exercising.

Finally, the importance of what you eat when you're training or trying to make a significant difference in your fitness level can't be over-emphasized. When upgrading your fitness routine, also don't forget to upgrade your eating and sleep habits as well.

See you all at the virtual gym soon! Photo remixed from originals by Christos Georghiou and Slobodan Djajic.

Thanks to Gillian and The Other Half for their time and advice developing this plan.

Gillian Mounsey has a B.S in Exercise Science from Hofstra University and has been a personal trainer for over 15 years. When she is not training, coaching or conducting workshops Gillian devotes her time to raising funds and awareness for Hope for the Warriors™ and she also runs her own non-profit initiative, Live Fit America. Her numerous athletic accomplishments include winning first place in the nation in the 1995 United States Marine Corps National Youth Physical Fitness Championship (a battery of events including max push-ups, max pull-ups, max sit-ups in 2 minutes, 300 yard shuttle run and broad jump), taking 3rd place in the 2008 CrossFit Games and most recently, in July, taking 1st place in the 69kg weight class of the 2011 Liberty open North Texas Weightlifting Meet.

You can follow or contact Melanie Pinola, the author of this post, on Twitter or Google+.

Can I Finally Ditch My Text Messaging Plan? [Ask Lifehacker]

Dear Lifehacker,
I just upgraded my iPhone 4 to iOS 5, and my spouse is going to be getting an iPhone 4S tomorrow. With this iMessage feature I keep hearing about—or even with one of the many SMS-replacements available on most devices—is it finally time for me to ditch my text messaging plan completely so I can save roughly $20 a month?

Sincerely,
Texting Is Overpriced

Dear TIO,

Good question! In fact, whether you're using iOS or not, you've got a lot of options for ditching your SMS plan and using third-party alternatives for free. But they all come with a catch.

As with all questions that involve other people as much as it does yourself, the short answer is "it depends." While you've already won a good chunk of the battle, since you and your spouse are both going to be on iMessage, you've also got to consider your friends? Will they be as quick to upgrade to iOS 5 as you? Do they even own an iPhone?

I'm going to go over your options, starting with iMessage, since it's built into your OS and is the most transparent. There are also third-party apps that can replace traditional texting, but they require both people to be using the same app. But there's one final option, Google Voice, that requires very little work from other people, but a lot more of a commitment from you.

iMessage isn't an additional app on your phone (in case you were looking around), it's just a way for you to send messages to another iOS 5 user through the data network, using the default Messages app. It looks exactly the same as a regular text message, except the chat bubble is blue, and you can see if your message was delivered. It's very much the equivalent of BlackBerry Messenger for iOS users (and only iOS users). You can tell if someone is iMessage-capable if, when you text them, the grey text in the text input field changes from "Text Message" to "iMessage".

In your case, I'm going to make the assumption that texts to your spouse make up about half of your overall monthly SMS usage. This could be way off, since I pulled this number out of my 30-pin dock connector, but assuming it's right, this would bring your usage down considerably. It might even be enough to let you lower your texting plan from something like 1000 texts a month to 500, or down from unlimited to 1000.

Is this enough for you to eliminate your texting plan entirely? That depends on your friends. If they've already got an iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 or are planning on the iPhone 4S, your job should be pretty easy—get them to upgrade to iOS 5! If they're not as tech-savvy as you, either head over and upgrade it for them, or send them a quick beginner's guide on how to upgrade.

But you probably have friends who are on Android, BlackBerry or even dumbphones. There's nothing you can do there. You (probably) don't have the money to buy them all iOS devices, and if you did, you wouldn't be worried about saving a few bucks a month by lowering your texting plan. For these people, you should either have a lower-tier texting plan, or if you don't communicate with them often, kill your plan entirely and just pay the flat-rate $0.20 or so per message. As long as the ultimate cost doesn't go over what you would have paid for the lowest-tier plan, you've come out ahead.

Luckily enough, the iPhone has an App Store, and there are apps inside that can bridge the gap between iOS users and everyone else.

If you've still got a bunch of friends on non iOS 5 phones, there still are data-only alternatives to using SMS. If they're on Android, you can both install Google+ and send each other Google Messenger messages. This is probably the easiest method for Android users, since they probably already have G+ installed.

There are other text-replacement apps like kik and PingChat that are cross-platform between iOS, Android, and even BlackBerry. You'll be able to talk with people with older iPhones as well, since the apps don't need iOS 5. There are two hurdles, however. One, you're going to have to make people install these apps, which might be a hassle, depending on the person. Two, you'll have your messages spread out over the Messaging app, kik, Google Messenger and who knows what else. That can be a pain, because you have to remember which friend was using which app in order to communicate properly.

If that's too much hassle for you, there's one ultimate, nuclear solution that will take care of everything.

Google Voice is a wrapper for your phone number, essentially hiding your real number behind a Google Voice number. When used properly, all your calls and texts will be piped through the system, so nobody will know what your real number is. This gives you benefits like voicemail transcription, ringing multiple phones at once, call blocking and caller screening, but the most important feature (for this post) is that you get free, unlimited texts.

The default behavior is that all texts sent to your Google Voice number will be forwarded to your real number, but that uses up your real text messages. If you want to use no text messages at all, turn off this feature and install the Google Voice app, using that to do all your texting. No texts will hit your Messages app, but you'll still be able to get all your texts using the GV app and push notifications. Occasionally these push notifications these will be delayed a bit, either due to slowness on Google's side or slowness with the push server, but they should all eventually get there. You can also just manually refresh the texts in the GV app if you're in the middle of an active conversation, to make sure you're not missing anything.

And if you don't want people to have to remember a new number, you can port your old number to Google Voice for a one-time $20 fee. However, this brings up some weirdness with iMessage. Because you've now ported your old number to Google Voice, you need a new real number to act as the number for your phone. For example, if your old number was 212-555-1234, and you've now ported that to GV, your phone provider will assign you a new number, such as 212-555-8888, because every phone needs a real number (unless you're on Sprint and have an Android phone, but that's outside the scope of this post). You still, ultimately, have two numbers. Unfortunately, iMessage works based on your real phone number, so you're going to have to give people you want to iMessage that 212-555-8888 number for them to contact you. But, you can just always rely on Google Voice instead and let them worry about texting fees (jerk).

One huge downside to Google Voice is that it can't do MMS, so people will be sending you photos and expecting you to reply, but you won't even get an error message telling you that the photo was sent. It's a major oversight on Google's part, and one that might be a dealbreaker for you if you MMS a lot. But, you do get the ability to send and receive texts on any web browser logged into the Google Voice website, which is also a big plus.

The long answer is yes. If you're willing to go through all this work—getting people you know to update to iOS 5, convincing others to install and use alternative messaging apps, or just making the switch to Google Voice entirely, you can. Not everyone is willing to do this, especially if you're only saving five to ten dollars a month. But, if you can go from a $20 messaging plan to a $0 messaging plan, you'll be saving $240 over the course of your contract, which pretty much pays for a new iPhone by itself. That's pretty tempting.

Love,
Lifehacker

P.S. If you've ditched your SMS plan for a free alternative, let's hear what method you chose in the comments.

Should I Use Premium Gas in My Car? [Ask Lifehacker]

Dear Lifehacker,
My car recommends that I use premium gasoline, but I'm curious as to how much I'd actually benefit—I've heard some people say it doesn't actually matter. Is it really worth the cost, or are they just recommending premium to get me to spend more?

Sincerely,
Confounded by Cars

Photo by Images of Money.

Dear Confounded,

I don't blame you for your confusion, what with all the gasoline-based advertising and vague "recommendations" out there. You may, in fact, be well able to ditch premium gas; unfortunately, the answer is a bit more complicated than a simple yes or no. So, we'll start by explaining how your engine works—without getting too technical—and what kind of gas is right for your particular vehicle.

Premium gas, which usually has an octane level of 92 or 93 (compared with regular's octane level of 87), is designed to prevent knock on cars with high compression ratios. The compression ratio is the total volume inside the cylinder that is displaced when the piston moves. If you use low-octane gas on a car with a high compression ratio, it's more likely that the gas will ignite prematurely, causing your engine to knock and rattle (if you want a more in-depth view of how a car engine works, check out HowStuffWorks' article on the subject). A mild knocking isn't necessarily harmful to your car, but it certainly isn't something you want—and heavy knock could damage your engine.

That said, the majority of cars are designed with a lower compression ratio, so that low octane gas is more than adequate to power the engine without producing knock. In fact, few cars actually require premium gasoline these days—usually it's just the luxury cars that do (though some luxury cars—like the Cadillac STS, for example—don't). The best way to find out what your car requires is to—surprise—look in the owner's manual!

If your car requires premium gas: Then you need premium gas. Your car has a high compression ratio and, moving to a lower grade will likely cause knocking, which you really don't want.

If your car recommends premium gas: This is trickier. Years ago, says Edmunds.com, it more of an all-or-nothing deal, but many cars today have internal knock sensors that change the game. Now, many cars can adjust the engine's timing to prevent knock, thus allowing you to use lower octane gasoline if you so choose. If your car merely recommends premium gas, you can safely switch to a lower octane without risking engine damage. You will notice a small drop in performance—as in, it'll take you a half a second longer to accelerate from 0 to 60—but since I'm not trying out for Fast and the Furious XCVIII, I've never bothered. Some argue that this level of precision could make it easier to merge on the freeway or avoid an accident, though, so it's up to you to decide whether the extra money is worth the extra half second. Some say it can also improve your mileage, but again: you'll have to measure your mileage before and after against the increased cost to see if it makes a cost effective difference. Our brother site Jalopnik makes a good point, though—in a lot of places, premium gas is still pretty affordable when compared to the low-octane alternative.

If your car does not recommend premium gas: Then you don't need it. In fact, if your car doesn't say anything about premium gas usage, all you'll be doing is dumping more money into your car. Premium gas will do nothing to increase the performance of a car that wasn't designed for it, so don't waste your money. It may sound like you're giving your car the good stuff, but it doesn't notice the difference, and neither will you. Photo by Kim Woodbridge.

Lots of companies have been advertising that their premium-brand gas does a better job of cleaning engine gunk, and this is somewhat exaggerated. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires that all gasoline—no matter the brand or the octane—contain engine detergent to prevent engine build-up. Now, some gasoline makers (such as Shell) may put more detergent in their gasoline, but there's really no concrete data to prove that this does a better job of cleaning your engine. But, if you ever find you do have a problem with engine build-up, HowStuffWorks notes that you can just as easily buy detergent at an auto shop or gas station and add it to the tank yourself.

So, in the end, the answer is pretty simple: read your owner's manual. You might be surprised at what you find, even if you have a luxury car—if it says recommended, you can go down a grade if you so choose, and if it says required, you should probably stick with the grade it requires. Check out the Federal Trade Commission's fast fact sheet for more info on the benefits of high octane gasoline, and the laws surrounding it.

Sincerely,
Lifehacker

Related Stories

How Do I Fix My Bricked iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch? [Ask Lifehacker]

By Adam Dachis Oct 11, 2011 10:00 AM 22,903 11

Dear Lifehacker,
I decided to give jailbreaking a try and it didn't go so well. My iPhone is stuck on a black screen and I've bricked it. Is there anything I can do?

Sincerely,
Jailbricked

Dear Jailbricked,

Chances are your iPhone isn't bricked at all. Unless you've managed to interrupt a firmware update, it can be pretty tough to actually brick any iDevice. Sometimes the solution is very simple, and sometimes you actually have some reason to panic. Regardless of how things may look, however, you should be able to resolve the problem fairly easily. Just try the following.

Note: With all of these steps, be sure your device is connected to power. Sometimes when it's having a problem it may run down the battery and you won't be aware of it because it appears to be off or frozen. You might think something is wrong because it won't power on, but the battery may just be dead. When troubleshooting, connect your device to power to eliminate that possibility. In some cases you may want to let it charge for 15 minutes before doing anything so you can be sure it has enough of a charge to operate.

Most of the time it's as simple as resetting your device. Hold down the power button and the home button simultaneously for 5-10 seconds (it can vary depending on the state of your device). Eventually you should see the Apple logo and iDevice will boot as normal. If not, try releasing both buttons and turning on your device as normal. As a precaution, plug your device into your computer and do a full restore in iTunes.

How to Restore
If you've never restored an iDevice before it's pretty easy. Just click on its name in the lefthand column in iTunes, go to the Summary section (if it's not already selected by default), and click the Restore button. This will download the latest available version of iOS from iTunes and install it on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. iTunes will know what type of device you have and download the appropriate version. When it finishes, you'll be asked to restore from a previous backup (assuming you made one—something you should be doing regularly) or set up your device as new. Assuming you have a backup, restore from it, then sync your device with iTunes when it finishes. Because a restore wipes out all data and an iTunes backup only retains settings, preferences, and other basic information, this sync can take quite awhile—especially if you have a lot of music and movies. Be prepared to let your phone sync for as long as an hour. When it's done you should be back to normal again.

When resetting doesn't do the trick, you need to tell your iDevice to go into DFU mode. This method should seem familiar if you've tried to jailbreak as DFU mode is generally necessary in the jailbreaking process as it's usually used for recovery purposes. You're going to need to disconnect it from power/your computer temporarily in order to do this, so be sure to let your device charge for 10-15 minutes beforehand.

When you're ready, here's what to do:

Presumably your device won't turn on or off, so let's first make sure it's off. Just like in the reset section, hold down the home and power buttons until your device shuts off.Hold down the home button.While still holding the home button, connect your iDevice to your computer. (The computer you use to sync with iTunes.)When you see a screen with a USB cable and a picture of the iTunes icon, you can let go of the home button.Restore your iDevice with iTunes using the restore instructions in the previous section.

That's one way to enter DFU mode that you can do while your device is still connected to your computer. You'll need a clock to help you count (don't count in your head!). Here are the steps:

Make sure your device is off.Hold the power and home buttons for 10 seconds.Release the power button but continue holding the home button for 10 more seconds.Release the home buttonRestore your iDevice with iTunes using the restore instructions in the previous section.

Hopefully one of these ways should make it possible to restore your device, but if not then move on to the next step.

When restoring your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad fails on your computer, try another. For reasons not entirely known to us, we've been able to fix our iDevices by simply connecting them to another copy of iTunes running on a machine that's never seen these devices before. Creating new user accounts on our own computers would, in theory, work, but when we've done this it hasn't. Simply attempting to restore the devices on someone else's machine seems to do the trick when all else fails. If you're stuck, try the previously mentioned steps on a different machine. It may take care of the problem.

If your iDevice is still in limbo and you can't bring it back on your own, you're probably going to need some assistance. Take your device to an Apple Store or an Apple-authorized repair shop and tell them it stopped turning on. They won't fix your phone under warranty if you mention you tried to jailbreak, so leave that detail out. In many cases they'll be able to get things back up and running for you in a few minutes and everything will be fine. It's very unlikely your phone will have to be replaced. Asking Apple to replace it when you broke it isn't necessarily the most ethical option, so you may want to own up to bricking it if it is, indeed, bricked and your fault. Chances are things will be fine, though, and you'll have a fully operational device when you leave. The Apple employee who fixes it will probably know you were trying to jailbreak but there seems to be a sort of "don't ask don't tell" policy at the Genius Bar for these types of situations. Keep your mouth shut and you should be able to get things fixed pretty quickly.

Love,
Lifehacker

You can follow Adam Dachis, the author of this post, on Twitter, Google+, and Facebook.  Twitter's the best way to contact him, too. Related Stories