This week on the Ask Lifehacker podcast, we're learning how music affects your ability to work, getting great deals on mobile apps, and protecting your passwords on public Wi-Fi networks. Also, Facebook blows a billion dollars on Instagram, terms of service contracts are no longer the ironclad documents companies wanted them to be, and a whole lot more.

Sorry the episode is late this week. We had some issues getting it live yesterday, but here it is! We should be back on track for Mondays next week.

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News and Discussion

This week we're talking about Facebook's acquisition of Instagram, Google+'s new layout, a few legal issues, and the return of Ze Frank.

01:01 Facebook Buys Instagram
Last week, Facebook acquired Instagram for $8 billion. If you're not familiar with Instagram, it's a social photography app that lets you take pictures with your iOS or Android device, apply vintage filters and frames, and share them online with just a few taps. It's the most popular app of its kind, but many people are upset about this acquisition because they're concerned that Facebook will ruin Instagram. While none of us are really worried, if you want to make the switch we've compiled some alternatives for iOS and Android.

05:37 Google+ New Look
Google+ updated with a new look, making it appear much like Facebook's timeline but with a lot more whitespace. Don't like the whitespace? Use the Whitespace Remover extension for both Chrome and Firefox.

08:21 Breaking Terms of Service
You know how you always read every terms of service contract in its entirety? Even the updates? Well, you're the only one. Everyone else pretty much skims them or ignores them entirely. For those of us who don't take the time to page through the enormous documents, there's good news! Breaking a terms of service contract is no longer a crime.

11:15 WTF Is CISPA?
Remember SOPA, the bill that wanted to censor the internet? Nobody liked it, but now we have CISPA and it's being backed by big companies like Microsoft and Facebook. It's not nearly as bad as SOPA, but it's still something to keep an eye on. Thorin runs down why companies are supporting it, if you'd like to learn more.

14:23 Ze Frank Is Back
Poignant and funny internet superstar Ze Frank is back with a new show. He was best known for his daily show called The Show with Ze Frank that frequently featured tips and thoughts with a Lifehacker-y angle. As a result we're happy he's back with A Show with Ze Frank. The first few episodes are up if you want to check them out.

Questions and Answers

Each week we answer five questions from readers and listeners. Here's what we tackled this week.

15:52 Should I get the latest and greatest computer or buy something cheaper?
Although Pash, Whitson, and I all have powerful self-built desktop computers, we also chose the MacBook Air as our laptop because it is fast enough. Whitson has his desktop for gaming purposes, I have mine for video editing/encoding, and Pash doesn't really use his anymore. For writing and browsing, the MacBook Air is more than sufficient. This is all to say that if you don't have a reason to get a powerful computer, you're better off saving money or going for something more compact. All computers are fast nowadays. Most people can do what they want to do on an iPad. Unless you know why you need a faster machine, don't spend extra money for speed. Either put that money towards things that'll matter more—like an SSD or more RAM—or keep that money in your pocket.

19:49 Is it safe to connect to unsecured public Wi-Fi?
No. There's a greater chance that you won't run into trouble, but that doesn't mean it won't suck if you do. Protecting yourself on public Wi-Fi is actually pretty simple. For the most part, you just have to use HTTPS when transferring sensitive information through the web browser (HTTPS Everywhere is a browser extension for Firefox and Chrome that makes this much easier) and make sure you're not providing unsecured network access to your computer. For added safety, set up Hamachi for secure browsing when you're on public networks.

23:49 What can I do about the tiny amount of internal storage (150MB) on my Android device?
Some Android phones just don't have a lot of internal storage and rely on the microSD card to do all the work. BUT, if you want to find out what's taking up space on your device you can just jump into your settings and go to the storage section. (The exact location of your storage info will depend on the version of Android you're using and, potentially, how your device's manufacturer has altered it.) If you find that your internal storage is filled with stuff you don't want or could put on your microSD card instead, you can always move it with pretty much any Android file browser app—including the one that likely came with your device.

26:31 How can I automatically convert videos I download with BitTorrent using Dropfolders and Handbrake?
If you're not familiar, Handbrake is a video conversion tool that takes virtually any input video and spits out an H.264 MP4 file. Dropfolders is a Windows application that watches for video files and automatically adds them to Handbrake to be converted. The person asking this question wants to automatically move videos downloaded by BitTorrent into a drop folder as soon as they complete so they'll be automatically converted to MP4 format by Handbrake. This can be done easily with an application called Belvedere. Mac users can do the same thing with Hazel.

29:06 Should I listen to music when studying/working and, if so, what music?
This often comes down to opinion and what works best for you. Most of us listen to music when working, and the type of music differs. Pash has a variety of tunes, Whitson listens to heavy metal and dubstep (which seems entirely counterintuitive but it works for him), and Thorin and I usually go for instrumental music/soundtracks during work because there are no lyrics, although that's only if I do listen to music in the first place. I tend to start dissecting the arrangements so I prefer silence. Basically, none of us are there same so you have to choose what works best for you.

But as for the science behind work/studying and music, it doesn't really help. There isn't any particular music that's going to actually help you concentrate or think better, but if certain songs get you excited and motivated you should definitely use those to get you started. That said, music can help you concentrate if you're in a noisy environment because it's blocking out the more distracting noise. So if you're working or studying in a coffee shop, for example, you'll want to bring a pair of headphones along. Overall, the best option is to use a white/brown/pink/etc. noise generator like the free one at SimplyNoise. That'll block out distractions best of all.

Downloads of the Week

Each week we talk about our favorite downloads. Here are our picks for this week.

WinPlusX (Windows)
If you're a Windows tweak addict, you probably use tools like the Registry, Computer Management, Disk Management, and Power Options often-apps that are extremely useful, but don't always have obvious or quick shortcuts in the Start Menu. WinPlusX puts them one keyboard shortcut away.

More info on WinPlusX

Flashback Tool
The Flashback Trojan infected a whole bunch of Mac users over the past few weeks. If you want to detect if you have it and remove it without much trouble, Flashback Tool will do the trick. Once you're free of Flashback (if you aren't already), be sure to install Apple's official Java update to patch the vulnerability.

More info on Flashback Tool

Morning Routine (Android)
People clearly have trouble getting up in the morning despite their alarm clock, which is why Morning Routine and other apps exist to make it difficult to actually turn off the alarm. Some require you to shake your device and others will shred money, but Morning Routine forces you to scan a barcode or two (on items in your pantry or refrigerator, for example). This requires you to concentrate enough to keep the camera steady and forces you to get out of bed—unless, of course, you start keeping cereal boxes on your nightstand.

More info on Morning Routine

Getting Great Deals on Apps
Apps are great, but they can get expensive if you keep buying every one that interests you. Last week Thorin looked at how you can watch for great deals so you're never paying full price for your apps. It probably won't save you a ton of money if you're looking to get a discount on cheap apps, but you can save a lot on pricey apps by knowing when to look for sales.

Using Your iPad as a Creative Tool
Last week, Thorin wrote a post on how the iPad can be used as a creative tool. He spoke with creative professionals, such as Jim Guthrie (who composed the music for the great game Sword and Sworcery EP) who've added it to their workflow. If you've wanted to make your iPad more of a content creation tool and less of a consumption device, definitely check out this post.

How Do I Submit a Question?

There are three ways to send in your question:

• Record a video, upload it somewhere, and send a link to tips+asklhshow@lifehacker.com
• Call (347) 687-8109 and record a question. Calls are awesome! We like them!
• Email your question to tips+asklhshow@lifehacker.com.

Please keep your questions as brief as possible. This means about 3-5 sentences for emails and 30-60 seconds for calls and videos. Your questions can be specific, but broader questions are generally better because they'll apply to more people. For example, "how can I breathe new life into my old PDA?" is much better than "what can I do with an old HP iPAQ 210?" Either way, we look forward to hearing from you!

This podcast was edited by Mike Vannelli.

Newspaper, Computer, and Clock (by Brandon Hopkins) provided by the Noun Project.

Facebook just launched a new feature that lets businesses that you've "liked" post coupons to your news feed.

Undoubtedly trying to get in on the success of sites like Groupon, Facebook's second venture into the social deals craze (remember Facebook Deals? No?) makes it easy to get coupons for business you like to frequent. After liking a business on Facebook, they can post deals to their page—just like they would any status update—and you'll see them in your news feed. You can claim the deals at any time, and either print it out or just bring your smartphone into the business to get your discount.

"Injecting coupons into your news feed" sounds like an annoying advertising scheme, but I'm waiting to see how this one plays out before I start complaining. It looks like deals are just another post type that get funneled into your news feed, which means if you want to hide them from ever showing up, you probably can. And if I'm already following my favorite burger joint or tech company on Facebook, why wouldn't I want to get a few deals out of it? The feature's just rolling out now, so you won't see a ton of deals just yet—but depending on how customizable the experience is, this may not be all that bad of a feature. Check out the video above to see more.

Facebook Offers | via Gizmodo

We know distractions are bad when you're trying to work. But, a new study found that it doesn't matter how many times you're distracted in one period of important work—even one little distraction is enough to derail your productivity.

The study involved 300 middle school, high school, and university students who were told to study something important for 15 minutes. The researchers then observed how difficult it was for them to maintain focus. A lot of the results were unsurprising: most of their distractions came from technology, often in the form of notifications, and there was a correlation between those that got distracted and how good of a student they were. The surprising point, though, was that it didn't matter how much they got distracted:

Not surprisingly those who stayed on task longer and had study strategies were better students. The worst students were those who consumed more media each day and had a preference for working on several tasks at the same time and switching back and forth between them. One additional result stunned us: If they checked Facebook just once during the 15-minute study period they were worse students. It didn't matter how many times they looked at Facebook; once was enough.

While browsing the web at work can be good for productivity, it isn't going to help if you're in the middle of an important task. This is just one more reason you should make more time by scheduling your media. Set aside time for Facebook during work breaks, not during your work, or you'll become a lot less productive. Even if you visit Facebook only once. Hit the link to read more.

Attention Alert: A Study on Distraction Reveals Some Surprises | Psychology Today

Photo by Bengsoon Chuah.

We spend an awful lot of time using social networks to keep up with people, discover news, and bring new functionality to our favorite apps, but they can get cluttered pretty quickly (not to mention destroy your privacy if you aren't careful). This weekend, take some time to clean up, organize, and re-privatize your Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ accounts.

Declutter Your Facebook Profile

Let's start with the biggest, most obvious, and likely most cluttered of your networks: Facebook. Facebook is easily the network with the most annoyances, though you can fix most of those with the awesome Social Fixer browser extension—whether it's menu items, font sizes, or even filtering out certain posts. You probably also have more Facebook friends than you'd care to count, and maybe even a few extra Facebook apps too. Too many friends on Facebook can actually make you unhappy, not to mention make Facebook harder to navigate, so routinely unfriend people you don't contact to keep everything tidy. While you're at it, you should take a look at Facebook's Friend Lists feature, which lets you split up friends into different groups for increased privacy and a cleaner news feed. Of course, if you don't want to go through the trouble, Facebook's new Smart Lists do an okay job of organizing things for you.

Once you've done that, it's time to delve into your privacy settings. Facebook's privacy settings are pretty much a clusterf**k these days, so check out our always up-to-date Facebook privacy guide for step-by-step info on combing all of the available settings for a perfectly customized experience. This should get you most of the way, though I'd also take a look at all your apps, revoking permissions for any app you don't use. For the ones you do use, make sure they aren't set to share stuff automatically to Facebook—Spotify is a prime example of this. Turn off any integration settings you don't want and you should be good to go. Photo by Rishi Bandopadhay.

Tidy Up Your Twitter Stream

Twitter is a much simpler network. With such limited functionality, you're less likely to get annoyed with it directly, though its interface certainly has gotten a little bloated over the years. If you'd rather have something a bit prettier and more functional, a good desktop Twitter client is always the best way to customize your experience. Like Facebook, you should also regularly go through the list of people you follow and unfollow those that you don't particularly care about, to keep your stream a little tidier. You can also use Twitter's Lists feature to organize your followees as well. Next, you might want to clean up all those spam accounts following you, which you can do with previously mentioned Nest Unclutterer. Lastly, if you're starting to get annoyed wading through the heap of narcissism on Twitter (or maybe you've become part of that heap yourself, check out our top 10 uses for Twitter that aren't self-indulgent. There are a lot more cool things you can do with the service than tell everyone what you had for breakfast.

Organize Your Google+ Circles

Google+ is the youngest and least overused of the big three, but it isn't without its own issues. It is Google, after all, which means privacy should still be a concern. Check out our guide to Google+ privacy to see everything you can do to control your personal information, and like Facebook and Twitter, keep your circles well-groomed. Previously mentioned Uncircle+ is a useful tool for unfollowing all those Google+ users that never say anything. And, if you're finally ready to make the full time switch to Google+ from Facebook, we have a guide for that too.

Consolidate Multiple Networks Into One

In the end, each network is good for different things (or annoying for different reasons), so if you're actively using them all, things can get hectic pretty quickly. These tools can help you post to all three networks at the same time, so you don't have to constantly jump back and forth, and previously mentioned Bliss Control will help you manage each network's settings from one page—so you don't have to change your profile picture or update your email settings three times. Similarly, MyPermissions will help you manage your app permissions and privacy controls for all three networks in one consolidated location, which is great. If, in the end, you decide you're done with social networking though, check out previously mentioned AccountKiller to find out how to delete all your accounts right now (though if you can't live without them, you could always quit without actually "quitting").

Got any tips for managing your social networks that we didn't mention? Share them with us in the comments below.