Set Up Opening and Closing Rituals to Form Better Habits

When you are looking to form a new habit, it might be wise to set up rituals to start and stop, says Hannah Braime, author of The Ultimate Guide to Journaling. (Rituals are) about doing what you need to do to reach a place of mental preparation (for an opening ritual) and mental closure (for a closing ritual). A ritual can be as simple as making a cup of herbal tea, sitting in a particular chair, and taking a few deep breaths before opening your notebook to journal. It can also be as simple as closing that notebook, taking a few moments to acknowledge the fact that you just invested time and energy in yourself, and then getting up and getting on with your day. They're about creating a boundary around our time and saying "OK, brain, this is your chance to tell me what's going on for you—no distractions, nothing else vying for my attention, it's just me and you". Braime talks about the merits of setting up rituals in a blog post about journaling, but the advice is more universal to any habit you want to cultivate. It's similar to having triggers, which is one of the best ways to trick your brain into creating new habits. But instead of just the starting point, Braime's method lets you put yourself into a "zone" of sorts to implement the action, disconnecting it from other activities.

Translate Crowd-sources Translations With Text, Voice, and Camera

Android/iOS: If you are travelling and can't speak the local language, having Translate (by Translate.com) on your phone might bail you out. The app gives you easy translations using text, voice or camera and works with a wide variety of languages. Just write the text or speak into your phone and choose the appropriate language for input. Translate.com can then read out what appears on screen in the other language, which you can play back for the other person. And it works the other way around too, although Translate's support for voice input is restricted; it didn't support Hindi and Italian, although English, French and Spanish was fine. The cool part, though, is that you can click a photograph and submit it to the community to get an answer on what that means. Unfortunately, Translate needs you to login with Facebook for this, which can be a problem for some. Once you do login, you can submit your photo (or voice or text) and ask the community for a translation in the comments box. I submitted one translation and got one, the latter of which held up (I tested a Hindi phrase whose answer I already knew). Translate also has a dictionary and thesaurus built in for additional word references.

The Best Photo Management App for Android

The default Android gallery is a nice enough app, but if you want something with a few more features—like password-protecting certain photos or sorting them however you want—QuickPic is our favorite gallery replacement.

Eaby Finds Misspelled Items on Ebay for Cheaper Prices

Android: Believe it or not, one of the best ways to find great deals on Ebay is with auctions that have misspelled words. So a "Xbox Connect" instead of an "Xbox Kinect" might just go for a lot lesser since fewer people search for that. Eaby makes it easy to find such items on Android.

The Best Fitness Tracking Apps for Every Type of Exercise

If you peruse the health and fitness category on Google Play or the iTunes App Store, you'll see thousands of activity trackers that automatically track your location, steps, runs, cycling, and more. It's a bit overwhelming, so here are a few of our favorites in a number of different categories.

NetfliXBMC Brings a Better, Remote-Controlled Netflix to XBMC

With a good home theater PC, you can play just about anything—though Netflix has always been a bit difficult. A new XBMC add-on called NetfliXBMC makes the process simpler and more streamlined than ever. Here's how to set it up.

Get S**t Done for Android Motivates You to Tackle Your To-Dos

Android: Sometimes a little tough love is called for when you're trying to get things done, and Get Shit Done is an app that delivers in droves. The app approaches your to-dos in a fun and funny way that's actually pretty inspiring—just don't take it too seriously.