After a busy weekend, I’m back to regular posting. Now here’s the question: Do you ever have issues when plugging in USB Cords? Perhaps the people at Lifehack.org can help you out.

Is it just me, or do you run into that situation often where you try plugging in a USB cord for something like your memory stick, or a peripheral like your scanner or your iPod, and you get it wrong the first few tries? Bonk. Nope. Bonk. Nope. Slot. That really started bugging me, so I took action.

This is so simple, I’m almost embarrassed to put it out as a hack.

I took a Sharpie and I made a big giant visible BLACK MARK on the side that had to face me when the cord is slotted correctly. I repeated this for every USB cable I use with my computer. Now? It just works like buttah baby.

A great idea. Keep in mind that a simple colored dot will also work. I think this is beneficial when working with vertical ports. When working with horizontal ports, the USB symbol faces up. Also, on the USB cable for the iPod, the side with the Apple goes down. Any other tricks you use? Put them in the comments.

Micro-Hack: USB Cords [Lifehack.org]