While breaking a lease is something to avoid, as with any binding contract, sometimes circumstances intervene and it becomes unavoidable. I found myself in this very position last year: about three months into a 18-month lease, an opportunity came up across country and we needed out. 

YouTube playback can be painfully unbearable to watch over at our apartment, with an annoying propensity for playback of almost any 720-1080p video to stutter and even stop completely mid-video. Little did I know the problem wasn't a slow internet connection or even YouTube servers, but possible behind-the-scene shenanigans from our service provider throttling connections to cached servers...

I used to hate cleaning behind this large potted plant. It is too big to move on a regular basis, and climbing back into the corner behind the pot to dust made me feel like a bull in a china shop. So guess what? That corner was always dusty. Until I had an "aha moment" which has meant that this corner is kept as clean as the rest of the house:

Don't know where to start with that pile of stuff in your bedroom? Fay Wolf is here to help you get started with today's One Minute Tip. More

Talk to professional photographers and they may wax poetic about their new DSLR, or better yet, the $2,000 lens separating everyday shooters from professionals. But where skilled photographers really separate themselves from us normal folks is their understanding about lighting, as shown here using an iPhone and a $10 IKEA lamp...

C'mon! Just fifteen more minutes! That's all you need to get out the door. But your phone's battery dropped dead, and there's not enough time to get a decent charge. If you ever find yourself in these dire straits, try this stupid-simple tip to keep the juice flowing fast. More

I love this idea! As soon as I saw the photo I had one of those "how did I live this long without knowing this!?" moments. 

Real Simple has a collection of other, possibly-new-to-you uses for aluminum foil, an item that I'm fairly sure the majority of us has a roll of in the ktichen cabinet. The best little tips and tricks are the ones you can use in a pinch and on the fly, and these definitely apply. 

Click thorough for all the links:

How often are we crossing the whole length of the apartment for the same things, again and again? Make life easier on yourself. It's perfectly cool to have three pairs of scissors if they're regularly used in three different rooms. (Thanks, Fay!!) More

Today's One Minute Tip comes from Justin Klosky, with a reminder to keep the peaceful sanctuary that is your home just that: home, by organizing how much of the news of the rest of the world you want to allow in -- and when you consume it. More

Maybe you'll be visiting the parents during spring break and need to get onto their wireless network. Or it could be your grandparents need a little tech support with their internet connection from afar. In either case, you'll need their wi-fi network password. Unfortunately, for a lot of people, the axiom of "out of sight, out of mind" applies all too well with network passwords. So here's a simple tip to give them a cheat sheet...