Have you lost the user manual to that DVD player you bought two years ago?  Ever searched in vain for your iPod Nano (2nd Gen.) manual?  Have you ever purchased a new electronic gadget, only to realize you have no idea how to use it?  Well, you may be in luck.  Below, I’ll fill you in on some of my favorite tools for finding lost user manuals and getting tech support.

By using The Manuals, you may be able to find a free copy online.  The Manuals is a search engine that scours the web to find pdf and html copies of common user manuals.  It currently boasts 5,770,000 free manuals.

Another option is OwnerIQ, a community-based directory of user manuals and tips.  OwnerIQ combines self-help and product information, offering a more comprehensive site that allows you to find and post tips about using various products.  Once you create a user account, you can begin inventorying your products and electronics.  Once you’ve done this, you will being receiving personalized updates on the products in your inventory.  Overall, a pretty useful site.

Another option is FixYa, which combines a user manuals database with a tech support community. FixYa works to provide the post-purchase customer support that most manufacturers seems to lack. This DIY community has over 1 million products in its database.  Another great feature of this site is its new ‘Ratings & Recommendations‘ section.  This section allows users to rate various products based on their reliability, ease of use, and value for money, as well as offering their recommendations for the best products in that category.  For example, the HP DeskJet F380 is ranked as the #1 printer, receiving 544 recommendations.  Of all of the sites described here, this is my personal favorite for any sort of tech support.

Last, you may want to try SafeManuals, a site that allows you to upload your own user manuals and search its database of user-submitted manuals.  It currently offers user manuals for 5,600 different brands of products and 1,400,000 user’s guides.

While at a cookout this past weekend, a friend of mine managed to get grease on her brand new shirt.  Although I have no idea how much said shirt would have cost, the look on her husband’s face when they noticed the new “beauty mark” tells me it was most likely not free.  And, as anyone who has ever gotten grease on anything knows, it’s nearly impossible to get rid of it. Luckily, we had a secret weapon again just such a stain:  my wife.  Without even thinking about it, she instructed our newly blemished friend to simply sprinkle some flour on the grease stain. To make a long story short:  the stain completely disappeared, my wife achieved rock-star status among our friends, and my fears of becoming the proud new owner of a shirt with grease and flour on it never came to fruition.

So, here is what you should do if you’re ever confronted with a grease stain on your clothes:

1. Find any everyday product that will absorb the grease.  The best products to use are baking soda, flour, or baby powder.
2. Sprinkle the powder directly on the stain and press onto the grease as hard as you can.  A good method of doing this is to go from the underside of the clothing and pinch the powdered area between your fingers.
3. After you’ve pressed the powder into the stain, you should be able to just brush it off.  If a considerable amount of powder remains stuck to the area, it means that all of the grease has not been absorbed and you need to repeat the above steps.
4. Prior to washing, sprinkle some powder on the area again and allow it to remain on their overnight.  This extra step will ensure that you don’t lock in a stain by washing the clothing with a little bit of grease left on it.
5. The next day, brush the powder off and wash the clothing as you normally would.

Mashable has a great post about how to track the swine flu outbreak online.  In order to track this outbreak, as well as future ones, they suggest:

1. Check the WHO Disease Outbreak News Center
2. Set Up Google News Alerts
3. Check the CDC Travel Notices for Outbreak Alerts
4. Find Where the Flue has Spread With HealthMap

To find out more about these methods, check over Mashable’s guide.

For the first post, we’re going to do something a little unusual.  We’re going to provide you with some links to other sites that are excellent sites to find tips and lifehacks.  This is not the type of thing that a site usually does when it starts off but we just want to start off on the right foot by making it clear that our goal is to provide useful information.  Period.

So, here are some site that are work bookmarking (along with Confronting Intelligence) and returning to frequently:

• Lifehacker
• Stepcase Lifehack
• Real Simple
• Dumb Little Man
• MakeUseOf

These are general sites that provide good information consistently.  In the next week we plan on providing you with a list of good sites to check out for personal finance information and tips.

Welcome to Confronting Intelligence!  We’re on the verge of getting this project off the ground and hope to be a real, functioning website by the end of the week.  Once we get going, here’s the type of information you can expect to find:

•  Tips on life.
• Career advice and guides.
• Technology tips and guides.
• Financial advice.
• Health advice and information.
• Fitness tips and guides.
• Information that is important to learn for life.
• News and current events.

Check out the “About” page for more information about Confronting Intelligence.  If you would like us to email you and let you know when our first post goes up, visit the “Contact” page and send us your email address.  

We’re excited about what the future holds for Confronting Intelligence and look forward to getting to know all of our visitors and commentors.