Alert readers may recall a few weeks ago I wrote about my approaching tenth anniversary writing for the "Journal" (December, 2023). Reviewing my list of "stories I wish I'd written" I found today's topic: life hacks. Some readers may not recognize the term as the phrase was only coined in the early 2000s. But likely every reader has indulged in creating life hacks. They are everywhere and they make our lives survivable.

The term "life hacks" was created by a journalist writing about a gathering of computer professionals. He coined the term to describe the "shortcuts productive IT (information technology) professionals use to get their work done." Life hacks are now defined as "any procedure or action that solves a problem, simplifies a task or reduces frustration in one's everyday life."

Here's an example of a simple and perhaps familiar life hack. Hang a tennis ball on a string from a garage rafter so the ball hangs just above the hood of a vehicle and will touch the windshield when the vehicle is properly parked in the garage. As the vehicle pulls in to the garage and the ball touches the windshield, stop the vehicle. It's a common life hack that makes stopping a vehicle in the right place routine and safe.

Life hacks don't typically require sophisticated tools or hard to find materials. Optimal life hacks are straightforward, simple and easy to implement, even by mechanically-impaired people like myself. Here's a bit about the development of life hacks, sources to find life hacks and some examples of life hacks currently in use.

The popularization of life hacks: "Hints from Heloise" to "MacGyverisms"

Readers of a certain age may be familiar with a syndicated column in about 600 newspapers at one time titled "Hints from Heloise." Ponce Kiah Marchelle Heloise Cruse Evans, best known by her pen name Heloise, was born in 1951. Her mother, also Heloise (Bowles), was the wife of a career military man and started a syndicated "helpful hints" newspaper column in 1959. Eventually Heloise, the daughter, took over the column that still appears in many regional and some national newspapers.

Heloise (the daughter) provides lifestyle hints in answer to questions posed by readers. Her answers include tips about housekeeping, consumer issues, pets, travel, food, home improvement and health. The tips Heloise offers can be likened to life hacks-the 'fix' normally relies on readily available materials and normal manual dexterity. Heloise's hints might have been the earliest recorded life hacks.

From 1985-1992 TV character Angus "Mac" MacGyver entertained viewers as he resolved life-or-death crises using only his own knowledge and resourcefulness. MacGyver relied on what he carried in his pockets (a Swiss army knife and duct tape) and could find easily at hand to solve the crises he faced.

Fans named his famed solutions "MacGyverisms." Eventually MacGyver's actions gave rise to a new verb to describe this particular way of solving a problem: "to MacGyverize" a solution or simply "MacGyver it." The MacGyverisms were much like our modern life hack-a way to simplify a task or solve a problem in an uncomplicated way with materials at hand. All this to say the concepts of life hacks have been around a while.

Here are a few interesting life hacks

First, you don't have to look very hard online to find a treasure trove of life hacks-some helpful, some ridiculous and some, well, just not very useful. Here are a few I found interesting and worth sharing with readers. They are many, many others.

Dryer cloths (that go in the clothes dryer) have a multitude of life hacks connected to them. Years ago I was teaching a class where the students gave oral and visual presentations. I recall one student who presented and demonstrated a long list of uses of dryer cloths, that was before we even had the term life hacks. One use I still find useful on these 'buggy prairie highways' is to use a dryer cloth, dampened slightly seems to work better, to remove bugs from the grill, hood and front bumper of a vehicle. Supposedly a dryer cloth or two in your pockets will repel mosquitoes...the jury is still out on that one for me.

I have no personal experience with this cooking related life hack but it does sound promising. To avoid the mess from kids eating cupcakes bake the cupcakes in ice cream cones. It sure seems like a great idea. Maybe a reader cans shed some light on that particular life hack.

Another hack that might resonate with dwellers in our cold winters is a way to keep carry out warm while you drive home. Try placing the container with the food in the passenger seat and turn on the seat heater. Seems it might have some merit.

Finally, of the dozens of life hacks I studied this one was most surprising: if you are trying to start a camp fire and have no kindling, use a pile of Doritos as a fire starter. As soon as I read this life hack I bought a bag of Doritos, set up a carefully controlled experiment with my wife's aid and lit one Dorito where I could douse it if the fire got out of control. See accompanying photo of burning Dorito.

Do you have a favorite "life hack?"

I had to prove to myself, and readers, that a Dorito would really burn. Here's a photo of a burning Dorito we lit with one kitchen match and it took off. Later I did a handful under a pile of sticks and the Doritos caught the sticks on fire. And why do they burn? Per the internet: "Doritos' primary ingredient -- corn -- is a carbohydrate that burns well, even hotter than wood...Doritos are deep fried in oil which also provides fuel for burning."

As a reader now is your chance to share one of your favorite life hacks. It can be an original you or someone you know created, one you saw online or one you learned about in some other way. Send a description of the life hack, a digital photo of the hack at work, if possible, identify the sender and source. We'll share the life hacks in a future edition of the "Journal." Email your life hacks and photos to: bcjpictures@itstriangle.com or snail mail them to Blaine County Journal, Box 279, Chinook, MT 59523. Happy life hacking!