Use your credit card enough and you’ll render the magnetic strip unreadable. You can call the company and have a replacement sent over, but in the meantime there’s a quick fix to which you can resort.

Last month, Wired suggested covering the strip with Scotch tape, which ever-so-slightly spreads the distance between the card and the reader, allowing for a cleaner scan more likely to result in success.

Click the source link for loads of other off-the-wall advice, including the most efficient way to eat spaghetti, keep earbuds untangled and swat flies.

Wired’s Lab-Tested, Muppet-Vetted Formulas for Smartifying Your Life [Wired via Ben Popken Writes]

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